


Veni, Vidi, Vici

by standoutinacrowd



Series: Stepsister AU [1]
Category: Carmilla (Web Series), Carmilla - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Eventual Everything, Eventual Smut, Eventual relationship, F/F, F/M, Fluff, kind of ew, kind of not, stepsisters
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-24
Updated: 2016-07-24
Packaged: 2018-06-04 07:23:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 28
Words: 98,968
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6647971
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/standoutinacrowd/pseuds/standoutinacrowd
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Veni - I came into your life.<br/>Vidi - I saw you, more than you saw yourself.<br/>Vici - I achieved victory over that sealed-off heart of yours, love.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Greg Hollis decides to remarry, much to his daughter's disdain. His fiancée is her principal after all.<br/>Laura tries to cope with the situation as best as she can, living with the Karnsteins will turn her world upside down.<br/>What happens, when you fall in love with your stepsister? Is something like that considered as amoral and awfully distasteful?</p>
<p>The one AU, in which Carmilla's mother is not a monumental bitch (who knew that it was possible).<br/>The one AU, probably no one thought about, and if it already exists... Well mine is different, I hope.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue: The Wedding

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Carmilla, that cutie is going to be your stepsister soon.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> At this point Happy Birthday again, deary (you know).

She looked at herself in the mirror for the umpteenth time, before fixing her tie and smoothing out the little crease in her white shirt that she was wearing underneath her grey vest. She had never been one to wear suits, but just for good measure she did on that particular day, because her father was getting married again. It was **his** day and she had agreed on wearing that damn thing.

 _I really do look ridiculous_ , she thought to herself.

 

“Laura, darling do you have the rings?”, her father’s voice startled her from behind.

“Yes. Don’t worry, I won’t try to sabotage your wedding.”, she rolled her eyes, and was about to pass him, when he held her back.

 

“Why do you hate Veronica so much? I still don’t get it. What did she ever do to you?”

“I don’t hate her.”, the blonde tried to reason. She just felt some resentment towards her. _That was it_. It had maybe something to do with the fact that her father was remarrying again, even though he once had promised her mother his forever.

Sometimes forever was just another breakable promise. She knew that by now. Too well.

 

Greg Hollis exhaled, that conversation was a never ending downwards train, and he knew it. They’ve had this talk since Laura (and the rest of Silas High in that case) had learned of Greg’s affair with the _Silas High School_ principal.

 

“Can you at least pretend to like her for today? You are going to scare off the guests with that mien of yours.”, the father asked of his daughter with hopeful eyes.

Laura’s expression softened at that and she nodded slowly, “I’m sorry dad, it’s just… I feel like I’m going behind _her_ back, which is stupid, I know, because she would want you to be happy, and I really am happy for you and that you fell in love again, and that you even want to remarry, but it’s just-”

Greg embraced his only daughter, to cut off one of her endless ramblings, “Oh Laura, darling! Why didn’t you tell me about this?”

“Because it’s stupid… And you might probably think I don’t care for your wellbeing, which is so not true… I’m just not over that whole thing yet…”, she said with a small smile, when her father pulled back to look at her.

“I’m not over her either, this doesn’t mean that she will be forgotten. I will always cherish your mother, darling, but I can’t forever mourn her. It’s been 8 years…”

Laura mentally kicked herself. Why did she pick this date exactly to talk about her concerns towards the wedding? She eyed her parent, the only one she had left and sighed audibly.

  
“I’ll try harder to accept all of _this_ … I know it sounds poor now… Considering we all will be living in the same household together soon, but it is all I have to offer for now…”

“It is good enough. I know, you’ll come around eventually. You are stubborn, but soon you’ll get comfortable, because you’ll see that the Karnsteins aren’t bad people. We all will be a great family together. I strongly believe that.”, he smiled warmly and the lights in Laura’s eyes flickered on for a short second, before she cocked her head towards the door.

“Now let’s go, or you’ll be late. The groom can’t be late.”

“And neither can his groomsman.”, Greg winked and exited the small dressing room with his daughter.  


 

***

 

The song started to play and Will was the first one to walk out (or in... however one wanted to see it), followed by Mattie and the chief bridesmaid herself. Mother Karnstein’s glittering girl. All the eyes were laying on her now, as she was trying hard not to fall. Walking in high heels had never been her forte after all. She had asked her mother, if she were allowed to wear a suit, but she had denied her that wish, saying both of her daughters had to wear matching dresses for the ceremony.

The dark haired girl of course had tried to argue, saying that her brother Will was also wearing a suit and he was a bridesmaid too- _well sort of_. Of course her mother then had countered that he was a boy, and boys simply couldn’t wear dresses. The daughter had made the last attempt at persuading her mother, when she let slip that _that cutie_ from the groom’s side would be wearing a suit too. Her mother had just rolled her eyes at her and said, _‘Carmilla, that cutie is going to be your stepsister soon.’._

After she had made it to the altar, and was now standing beside her sister Mattie, who cast her a short smile and a look that said something like _‘Great, you twerp, congratulations on not tripping.’_ , the Bridal March started to play and she saw her mother walk down the aisle, towards herself. With the happiest of smiles, directed at the man, who was waiting right in arm’s reach next to her actually.

Carmilla turned her head a little to be able to see, what her mother saw, but she only had eyes for _that girl_ … **The cutie.** Of course she knew her name. They attended the same high school after all and _everyone_ knew Laura Hollis. Laura Hollis was the president of the school committee, and the straight-A student (probably not the only thing straight about her) that everyone loved and adored. _Miss extra-curricular activities_ could be written with a sharpie on her forehead. Plus, there were numerous times when the families had met privately. Her mother was dating her father for over one year now after all (publicly). Anything that happened before that, didn’t involve the mixing together of the two worlds.

However the most important reason for Carmilla to know her was the fact that she’s had a crush on her since forever, which was ridiculous, because god, how could anyone be so happy and energetic all the time? She was the sun… And Carmilla? Carmilla was nothing but the vast darkness.

Funny wasn’t it? The sun had been successful in conquering the darkness all that time ago after all…

The brunette had been pining over her for what seemed like a century (of course without telling anyone about it, because since that debacle with Ell no one needed to know of her infatuation with the ray of sunshine), and now everything got more complicated, because as of that day, they were forced to be one family. They would be living in the same house, under the same roof.

Carmilla’s creeping was disturbed, when her mother stepped into the picture. Laura also turned her head (probably to look at the bride) and for the first time, she locked eyes with the brunette. The blonde knit together her brows, to silently ask, why she was being watched, but Carmilla just shook her head a little and averted her gaze. Her heart was beating out of its regular tact. Laura had never looked at her that intently, sometimes she hadn’t even acknowledged her presence, when being in the same room. Not even in those days they had eaten dinner together (that happened like thrice in the last month).

It was a plague really, because Carmilla Karnstein was the brooding punk chick at school. Brooding, openly gay, punk chick to be overly correct. That was exactly the reason, why she was not allowed near Laura. She didn’t have anything to offer to that girl. So she only stood out of her way and from time to time let out a snarky or sarcastic comment, which she was sure Laura forgot about anyway. It was not like Laura was hiding the dislike for her… Well she didn’t even dislike her actually. She just chose to ignore her most of the time. Which hurt Carmilla (she would never admit to it though).  
  
_Whatever, bygones._

The cutie looked dashing in that suit though. Her hair was falling like a curtain, and most of the time she seemed to be more interested by the tiles on the floor of the church than the ceremony itself. Nothing went by unnoticed by Carmilla. She wanted to throw up a little in her mouth for being such an idiot.

 

 

***

 

“Look at _that_ , our sis... All alone and by herself…”, Will sneered and leaned his elbow on his twin sister’s shoulder, who followed his eyes with her own. When she caught the sight of who her brother referred to as their _sister_ , she choked on the drink she had in her mouth, causing her to cough vigorously (She had anticipated it to be Mattie).

“Maybe I should keep her some company… You know, _welcome her into our family and all_ …”, Will announced and wanted to stalk off, but was held back by his sister.

“Get out of the way jackass. Don’t be so gross all the time.”, Carmilla gave him a pointed look, and he just grinned back. She then made the attempt to ‘welcome’ her new stepsister- _okay gross_. Even though she never was planning on telling Laura about her little infatuation with her, she certainly didn’t need her own conscious telling her _‘You have a crush on your stepsister’_.

 

“Hey.” ( _Great Karnstein, real articulate._ )

Laura, who was munching on cake looked up and frowned, “Hey?”

“Did anyone tell you yet that you look absolutely fantastic in that suit of yours?”

The blonde rolled her eyes, “To what do I owe the pleasure of your presence?”, her voice sounded bored. _Ouch._

“Just trying to make small talk, cutie.”, the dark haired girl sat right beside her… ~~stepsister~~ schoolmate. Nope, she was not going to think of her as _her stepsister._

Laura had no intention in deepening the conversation with the other girl, “Ahhh, yeah right.”

The brunette clicked her tongue, “Usually when I’m at weddings, I totally seek for compatibility between the bridesmaids and the groomsmen.”, Laura seemed not to follow, “You know… The legend of bridesmaids hooking up with the best mans? That’s a real thing, cutie.”

At that Laura looked at her in… Was it disbelief, disgust or disdain?

However she didn’t say anything. Not in response to that implication anyway.

  
“Listen Carmilla…”, _at least she knows my name_ , the dark haired girl thought to herself, “Just because our parents got married, doesn’t mean you have to talk to me now. I’m sure your mother urged you to play nice with me and all, but that doesn’t mean you really have to. You stay out of my way and I’ll stay off your radar, okay? We did it for years at school, why not fall back into that pattern?”

Carmilla was taken aback by the offer or actually threat. It sounded like a real semi-threat. From Laura Hollis, the sunshine girl.

 

_What the creeping hell?_

 

“Sure, whatever you need.”

 

Living together with Laura Hollis, her forever-crush?  
Not something the dark haired girl was looking forward to now...  
Not since Laura made it so clear that they better stay out of each others way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My tumblr: [angstfreehuman](http://angstfreehuman.tumblr.com/)


	2. Family Matters

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “You are not special, creampuff.”

Laura was sitting in her new bedroom in the Karnstein manor. Her best friend Danny Lawrence had helped her with moving in, but excused herself some time ago, saying her boyfriend was awaiting her. Kirsch and her were together since they could think and Laura would have found it gross, if it hadn’t been like the sweetest thing ever.  
  
The cardboard boxes made the room look so tiny (even though it was about 1,5 times bigger than her old one in the house she grew up in). She would miss that house. All of her childhood memories were in there. All of the memories of and with her mother were slowly dissipating into thin air. It was nothing but a vague memory by then, faded by the days passing.  
  
The blonde moved to unpack her first box, which was resting on that brand new revolving chair of hers. All the things were new and shiny in her own 4 walls. Her new stepmother had tried everything to make Laura feel comfortable and welcome.  
  
The first things she fished out of the box were binders full of school work and projects. She aligned them in her shelf. All sorted out by color, so that in the end a tiny rainbow was decorating the sterile room. Everything was held in white, which had to change soon. Laura was eager on hanging photos of her with her best friends all over the walls.  
  
Just as she was about to unpack another box, she heard loud giggling from the room across of hers. The same room that was occupied by Carmilla Karnstein. _Ugh._ Laura rolled her eyes, and made an attempt to ignore the sounds, before listening in closely. She knew the voice. It was Elsie, one of the cheerleaders. One of her close friends, who was dating James Croyden, the captain of the football team.  
  
  
_Seriously?_  
  
  
Laura went through the open door of her room and out into the hallway, knocking on her stepsister’s door. After her little ‘intrusion’ was ignored, she just busted in and found Elsie (in a state of undress) in what seemed like Carmilla’s bed with the brunette hovering above her.  
  
The blonde inhaled deeply and closed her eyes, “Els, what the fuck do you think you are doing?”  
  
“Oh god!!!”, Laura heard her friend cover herself up and there was some shuffling.  
  
  
“Laura what are you doing here?”  
  
“Didn’t you know?”, that was Carmilla’s voice now, “Papa Hollis is now my daddy too.”  
  
Laura opened her eyes after what she thought was an eternity and found her friend fully dressed again.  
  
“He is **not** your dad!”, she hissed defensively in Carmilla’s direction, who just cocked up an eyebrow and smirked.  
  
  
“And you!”, that was addressed to Elsie, “How could you? Does James know of this?”  
  
“Please don’t tell him!”, the other blonde girl in the room begged.  
  
Laura exhaled softly, and her pulse was somewhat normal again (everything set her off lately), “Okay, alright, I won’t tell James, but promise me that you won’t do this again… Especially not with _her_ …”, she glared in Carmilla’s direction, whose smirk only grew at that.  
  
Elsie was quick to nod her head ‘yes’. “Why didn’t you tell me, that she already moved in?!”, she asked the brunette.  
  
Carmilla only shrugged nonchalantly, “I didn’t know that the creampuff had voyeuristic qualities and would be disturbing us here.”  
  
Elsie huffed out a breath and said her goodbyes to them, before exiting the room.  
  
  
  
“You know, if I had known that having a cutie under my roof would scare away all the cupcakes, I would have stopped my mother from marrying your dad…”, the brunette still was in her bra and had made no attempt at dressing herself. She rather stretched her back and flexed her toned muscles on her stomach, which Laura of course totally had not checked out.  
  
“Don’t worry about that. I tried, but they are in love, otherwise he wouldn’t have tied the knot with her. Despite my interventions he married her… And trust me, I had better reasons for wanting to stop this, than my stepsister being a cock-block.”, the blonde was quick to exit the room again.  
  
  
_Woah, that was kind of..._  
  
  
Carmilla followed her newest family member to her (yet) disorganized room (not daring to step in, but she leaned on the door frame) and crossed her hands over her chest, “What is _that_ supposed to mean?”  
  
“What?”, Laura had turned her back towards her, aligning the picture frames on her desk.  
  
“Are we not good enough for you or what?”  
  
“What?”, this time it came with a tone of confusion, and Laura was furrowing her brow at Carmilla, turning to look at her directly.  
  
“Well… You are acting like a huge freaking dick around everyone and I just don’t know what your problem with us is! What is so wrong about my mother? She’s kind and supportive and raised us well… And she treats your dad right, what more do you want?”  
  
“She is not _my mother_.”, it came in a blink of a second and Laura’s face was expressionless, just like her voice. Her eyes were hollow, and Carmilla could’ve sworn that she would be swallowed right into that darkness, if she let herself envelop it.  
  
How was this Laura Hollis so different from the one she got to know in school?  
  
Without any other word Carmilla walked into her own room again, closing the door behind her.  
  
Even the sun sometimes needed a break. That’s what the moon was there for, right?

 

 

***

  
  
Carmilla was sauntering through the school hallways. Yes, her junior year had started and she was not at all looking forward to her Science classes on that particular morning. At least LaFontaine, her eldest friend would be there to entertain her with one of their stupid attempts at inventing psychotropic fog.  
  
  
  
“Carmilla!”, the brunette closed her eyes at that cheerful voice. She turned around and was met by a polite smile and blonde hair that swayed with every step Laura was making towards her.  
  
“Creampuff?”, the dark haired girl’s hands stilled in her locker.  
  
“Your mom told me to wait for you in the morning, saying that you would give me a ride to school… But you kind of never showed. Didn’t she tell you?”  
  
“She told me…”, the brunette nodded her head slowly, Laura looked at her in confusion, “But you said we should stay off each other’s radar… So…? I was just living by your rules, cutie. You gotta tell me, if you want it any other way.”, the dark haired girl was somewhat hopeful that her stepsister’s words from some weeks ago were only said in a state of haste.  
  
“No, no, you were right in thinking that. Thanks for uhm… Listening to me.”, Laura nodded vigorously and paced off to her own class, greeting some of her friends here and there with a wave. Their interaction didn’t go unnoticed by a certain redhead.  
  
  
“Karnstein…”, LaFontaine came to approach their friend.  
  
“Gingersnap.”, Carmilla cocked her head in a loving affection. Yeah, _that_ was _their_ thing.  
  
“So how is the new family member?”, they asked.  
  
“Oh, Greg? He is a sweetheart. Much better than the jerks my mother used to bring around.”, the brunette waved off, while closing her locker with a loud screech.  
  
  
“I was actually talking about Lois Lane over there…”, LaFontaine pointed to the circle of girls that were animatedly talking about what Carmilla thought would be lip-gloss and boys.  
  
“She is… A total pain in the ass.”  
  
“Really? Nerd girl not your favorite? Couldn’t have guessed so…”, they teased. LaF didn’t know anything about Carmilla’s little crush. (Which wasn’t so little, considering the fact that anything she did affected her somehow.)  
  
Like the fact that they both shared a bathroom now. The brunette had forgotten the fact that both of their rooms, even though situated oppositely, had a joint bathroom in-between and that both could walk in on each other, while the other was doing god knows what in there. (Fortunately none of them had walked in on each other while showering. **Yet.** )

   
  


***

  
  
“So how’s the new family?”, SJ wanted to know, whilst positioning herself beside Laura during lunch break.  
  
“Perfect. I have three siblings now that I have to share my dad with. Just perfect.”  
  
The brunette beside her nudged her gently, “I actually wanted to know about Will… Tell me, did you already walk in on him, while he was changing or other things…?”  
  
“You are so gross!”, Laura made a disgusted face, “And no, William and Mattie never seem to be around.”  
  
“Weird don’t they live with you?”, this time Danny interjected them, who had been listening to their conversation halfheartedly (because she had been busy sucking face with Kirsch).  
  
“Will does, but he kind of is never at home-”  
  
“He’s ma bro, we go to the local gym often to…”, Kirsch flexed his arm muscles, “Work on those babies.”  
  
Danny, who was sitting beside him looked away from him, “Oh god, remember me again, why I’m with you?”  
  
“Because you love me. And it’s been like thousand days since our first kiss. You wouldn’t dare to break up with me.”, the only boy at the table said and nudged his girlfriend.  
  
  
“So, what about the other sister?”, Natalie, who was speaking lowered her voice, “The adopted one…?”  
  
Laura shrugged, “Mattie is 26 and has some business in Morocco, so she’s never there anyways. She moved out a long time ago, I think. Actually the room I live in now was hers once.”  
  
“Well… And how’s your new mommy, the principal?”  
  
The blonde just squinted her eyes and swallowed down her food.  
  
  
When Laura let her gaze wander through the dining hall, she saw her stepsister sitting down with one of the science nerds. They were laughing animatedly and for the first time the blonde saw, how beautifully the usually broody punk chick (which she formerly had known as _Raging Goth Chick_ ) could smile. Her teeth were digging into her bottom lip, and she tilted her head backwards, as she was trying to stop herself from laughing too hard.  
  
Laura felt herself joining in on their laugh, even if she had no idea whatsoever what exactly amused them so much. It was just when Carmilla felt her eyes on her and locked eyes with Laura, she felt self-conscious for staring. However she didn’t avert her gaze, she just cast her stepsister a gentle smile, which was only met by a soft frown.  
  
Maybe the Karnsteins weren’t that bad after all. At least Carmilla didn’t seem as bad as Laura thought she was.  


 

***

  
  
Laura was walking down the hall, when her principal caught up on her.  
  
“Laura, dear, would you like me to give you a ride home?”  
  
The blonde looked sidewards, where the tall woman was walking beside her (Really how was she so tall and both of her children turned out rather short? Probably Carmilla and Will’s father had been a short guy…).  
  
“It’s nice of you to ask, principal Karnstein, but uhm…”  
  
“First of all, please call me Veronica… And well, I know that Carmilla isn’t taking you… I don’t know, what is wrong with the girl… But I could ask Will to give you a ride too, if you felt uncomfortable with me?”  
  
Okay no, the creep, who had been hitting on her since like forever? _No thanks_.  
  
“No, erm, I would love to drive to your home with- I mean drive home with you.”, the pupil said weakly.  
  
“Excellent… Then we can maybe talk about some school related projects on our way? Your father hates talk about my job at home.”, Veronica said with a huge grin.  
  
Laura really hated that grin. Her stepmother was trying too hard for her taste.  
  
  
  
“How is it going with Carmilla and Will? Do they behave around you?”, Veronica asked during their car ride home.  
  
“Yeah… Will is Will…” (just a hormonal, male horny teenager) “And Carmilla always had been nice to me I guess… We never really talked that much while in school. She has her thing and I have mine, but we have a lot of classes together this year, which is interesting.”  
  
“Yeah, my daughter is what you would call the typical underdog. She doesn’t like to stand out, but she is doing a poor job with that, considering the fact that her schoolmates are seeing her as exactly such. You know... Outstanding? Whenever there is trouble, one of my children are involved...”, she sighed.  
  
“I never thought about it…”, the blonde said absently, taking in the streets they were passing.  
  
“Maybe you both could be friends. I mean now that you are actually forced to make conversations that go beyond the usual school things, maybe you could rub off on her.”  
  
“As I said, we never really talked in school… And I’m actually not intending on bonding with your daughter… No offense, but I don’t think, we’d get along that well. It is perfect the way it is.”  
  
“Carmilla is a good kid, you know? Maybe she seems edgy and dark, but she has a soft side to her too.”  
  
Laura thought about it. The way Carmilla laughed, the way she was around friends… Maybe she should start to get to know her stepsister better… Maybe she really wasn’t so bad after all.  
  
  


***

  
Carmilla had a new plan. She couldn’t force Laura to like her, but she could make her hate her. That was her grand plan. Making her hate her in the worst way possible. Maybe then her ridiculous crush would fade away. Crushes do that, right? Just fade away into nothingness? Yeah, totally. Carmilla was lying flat on her back, contemplating on how exactly to do that, when giggling filled the corridor. Her bedroom door was open ajar, so she could make out the sounds without even having to listen in intently. A flash of blonde hair passed her eyesight, and she sat up in the bed and moved to the edge, to see Laura enter her room and mindlessly throw her backpack on her bed.  
  
After that she too sat on the edge of her bed and giggled once more, typing some text message frantically into her phone. Carmilla’s stomach twisted at the delighted sounds. She was really something, that Hollis girl.  
  
  
“Sexting with your boyfriend?”, the raspy voice startled Laura, who looked up immediately.  
  
“Jeez, can you **not** creep on me like that?”  
  
“Well cutie, you ruined my fun some days ago, so I think, I owed you one.”, the brunette smirked and stood up to lean against her own door frame, not daring to enter the other girl’s room.  
  
“Yeah that was real classy.”, the blonde rolled her eyes, “Next time don’t bring your hoes around, when our parents are downstairs.”  
  
“Hoes? Isn’t that cupcake your friend?”, the brunette had her left eyebrow risen.  
  
  
_Really? Does she always have to be so smug?_  
  
  
“You’re lucky it was only me and not my dad.”, the blonde huffed.  
  
Carmilla’s demeanor changed, “Why, it’s not like _he’s my father_ , right?”, she hissed, just like Laura had claimed her parent as hers, some days ago.  
  
“No… Well, you know what I mean…”, Laura’s nose wrinkled in her poor attempt to look annoyed. For Carmilla she just looked…  
  
  
“That bunched up face you make, when you’re angry is hilarious, buttercup.” _And freaking cute._ Straight girl crushes...  
  
“What’s up with those stupid nicknames?!”, Laura let it slide angrier, than she had anticipated.  
  
“Why? Don’t you like them?”, Carmilla picked at the paint on her door frame, where it was chipped slightly.  
  
“I have a name you know? A name that my parents carefully picked out for me, for the entire humanity to use to address to me?”  
  
“Aren’t we cocky, Hollis? Do you think the entire humanity will ever know you? Or ever care for you?”  
  
  
_Well that was harsh._  
  
  
“No… It…”, the blonde blinked twice, “It was not what I meant.”  
  
“Right, popular Laura Hollis, always so full of herself… Get down from your throne, princess. You are not special, creampuff. The world doesn’t care, if you live or don’t. You just do or don’t.”, what Carmilla said, made her own stomach turn, but she had to do it, “You are a no one in this apathetic world. Not even a dot on a map.”  
  
Laura stood up too, getting to her door, “I don’t know, why I ever considered to be friends with you. Your mother’s clearly wrong about you. You are the darkness.”, with a loud thump the door was closed shut.  
  
  
Carmilla wanted to counter something to that. She wanted to tell the sun that it had to choose the darkness in order to shine brighter, but she was held back by herself. The brunette wanted exactly this to happen. She had to harvest hate from Laura Hollis. In order to forget that silly crush of hers, Carmilla had to make sure, they hated each other.  
  
First mission: Gaining Laura’s resentment towards herself? _Check._  
  
  
Now onto the next one: _How to wash someone out of your system you’ve had there for about 3 years?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tell me something: [angstfreehuman](http://angstfreehuman.tumblr.com/)


	3. I've Never Had A Sister

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “That hottie’s my sister you douche.”

All of Carmilla’s fears had come to make themselves true.  
  
There was Laura Hollis, au naturel, with steaming hot water running down her body right next to her room. She could hear the shower go off. _Great._ Wanna know the worst part of it all? Yes, Carmilla Karnstein had walked in on her, with that not being enough, she was petrified and hadn’t moved for about 5 hours, before the blonde’s eyes had grown wide and she had made an poor attempt to cover herself up. (Why had her mother picked out clear glass doors for their bathroom showers?)  
  
_‘Ohmigod, Carmilla could you please not stare?’_ , those words were still haunting her in her head.  
  
The door to the bathroom opened… On her side of the room, revealing a towel-clad Laura with wet hair, who looked at the brunette in anticipation.  
  
Carmilla looked anywhere but her cleavage, or the way her skin glowed, or her toned arms gesticulating.  
  
  
  
“What the hell was that?”  
  
The brunette wanted to shrink and then evaporate. Non-existence sounded really good right now.  
  
“I uh… I didn’t know that you were in there.”, Carmilla was avoiding her eyes, which Laura caught onto. She really did seem sorry, plus never had the blonde seen her this… Flustered.  
  
“Oh… Yeah totally… Just… Knock or something the next time.”, Laura was about to walk away, when Carmilla spoke up again.  
  
“Where would the fun in that be, creampuff?”, the dark haired girl’s smugness came back (even though she had to force herself really hard to come up with that semi-witty retort).  
  
“You are equally as gross as your brother. Even though you guys are unidentical twins, you two sure have the same mind.”, was all she heard in return.  
  
“Hey, what do you mean by that exactly?”, Carmilla wanted to know.  
  
“You think like a guy sometimes, that’s all.”  
  
  
Which was the most offending thing one could say to her. William Karnstein, the hormonal douchebag compared to her? Oh no, that Hollis girl would not get away with such an accusation!

   
Other than that embarrassing moment, things slowly got better between them again, after that little dispute they were having some days back, Carmilla had actually apologized. Yeah, she really had said _‘Sorry that I was PMSing on you.’_. Which was totally bullshit, but Laura had shrugged and apologized too and they sort of grew on each other. Not that they were friends now or anything, but there was less tension between them. Still Laura was adamant about them acting like complete strangers around each other.

 

 

 

***

  
  
“Good morning.”, Laura greeted her father with a kiss on his cheek and sat beside him, which was across from Carmilla and poured herself some orange juice.  
  
Laura looked up from her breakfast plate and what she saw made her giggle inwardly.  
  
Carmilla and her mother both were reading. One was reading the newspaper of the day, the other some weird book with a skull on it. Probably about satanistic rituals or praising demi-gods or something. Here and there, both would be driving a hand through their hair, to avoid them from getting in the way of their reading. _Like mother, like daughter._ So true.  
  
  
“Laura, I can drive you to school again today, hmn?”, Veronica suggested, while taking a sip of coffee.  
  
The blonde thought about the past week, when everyone had witnessed her getting out of the principal’s car. That was something Laura still wasn’t accustomed to. Her gaze fell on Carmilla, who was reading on and on about… _Whatever_ and not participating in the conversation.  
  
“Uhm… Actually, I thought that Carmilla could take me?”  
  
There was no response, so Laura kicked her shin from under the table.  
  
“What the hell?!”, the dark haired girl was startled and looked at her other family members, “What did I miss?”  
  
“Well, dear, it looks like you and Laura are riding to school together. Have fun at school, girls and Greg? Call me, to let me know about your deal with China, yeah?”, Veronica made her way to her husband and kissed him shortly, before exiting the dining room.  
  
Laura had watched their interaction and it made her a little upset. A China deal? Usually she was the one that knew about all of his work stuff. Now she was nothing but a normal daughter. She never was just the daughter, they were more than this. Her dad and her had a special bond. At least she thought so…  
  
  
“Well girls, I will be getting going too… Don’t you get yourself in trouble, Carmilla.”, he grinned in the brunette’s direction.  
  
“Can’t promise anything, Greg.”, she chuckled in response.  
  
Laura was even jealous of Carmilla now too. _Great, how mature!_  
  
  
“Uhh ladies…”, Will walked in now, in nothing but his boxers, clearly Laura was unimpressed by that. ( _Maybe he just wasn’t her type_ , Carmilla thought to herself.)  
  
“Don’t you have class or something?”, Carmilla asked her brother (clearly annoyed), who let himself fall down on a chair beside his sister(s).  
  
“Nope, first period’s been cancelled.”  
  
“Yep, well, as nice as our little family gathering is… Carmilla? We have English in the first period… So, could we please go?”, the blonde suggested and it was really much better than sitting beside her twin, having him watch undress Laura with his eyes. (Nope, she never had done such a thing- no. She wasn’t like him at all. And even if… Women were much more tasteful with those things anyway. Yeah, that was totally it.)  
  
“Sure, creampuff.”, she winked and folded the top of the page she was reading in her book, so that she would know later on, where she’d left off.  
  
  
  
  
“Don’t mind him… He is a total punk.”, Carmilla said, when igniting her motor and pulling out of the driveway.  
  
“He is your twin, aren’t you supposed to be like each other’s soulmates or something?”  
  
At that the brunette made a disgusted grunt, “I feel like Mattie and me are more like twins than him and me. He is a real momma’s boy. That’s why he never gets punished for all the trouble he causes.” Laura thought about how alike Carmilla and Veronica actually were. Maybe she was a secret momma’s girl too?  
  
“Interesting… Since when did you have Mattie in your family?”, Laura was genuinely interested now, which surprised Carmilla.  
  
“Mattie _is_ our family. We don’t _have_ her in our family.”, the dark haired girl replied, clearly not fond of Laura’s choice of words.  
  
“I’m sorry, you know what I meant, right?”  
  
“No…”, Carmilla shook her head, and looked at her passenger, “I really don’t know.”, the blonde clearly wanted to explain herself, but she was cut off, “I really don’t know, what you mean anymore, because one day you tell me to back off, the next day you make semi friendly steps towards me and then you hate me completely again and now? Riding with me to school? I thought you didn’t want that? Please just decide for one of those things. I can’t be the blockhead for everything. Either you hate me or you like me…”, the brunette shook her head slightly, “… Or at least tolerate me.”  
  
  
Laura was taken aback by the display of their _‘on and off friendship’_ , but what disturbed her more was the fact that Carmilla seemed to be affected by that. She cleared her throat.  
  
  
“Wait… So would you like me to play nice with you?”  
  
Now this time the brunette was a little taken aback, “Well… Uh, it would be nice, if you weren’t always such a dick to me, when I clearly do things for you… Like… Uh… You know… A sister would do for you.”  
  
“Okay, ugh…”, Laura cast her a disapproving look, “… Acknowledging you as my sister is gonna take a while, let’s not go so far yet, yeah?”  
  
“Why?”, Carmilla was genuinely curious. She never had intended to see Laura as such either, but still it was interesting to know the blonde’s point of view on that subject.  
  
“Because that would automatically mean that I would have to acknowledge the fact that Will is kind of my brother and… Nope… I mean with all those times he tried to hit on me, no thanks.”  
  
“Well, you know that we are not blood related, right?”  
  
“Right.”, the blonde nodded, not seeing, where the conversation was leading.  
  
“So what’s so bad, if you get hit on by him once or twice?” (The dark haired girl was actually asking for herself, which nope, she should not have.)  
  
“Blood related or not…”, Laura had an example, “For instance Mattie… You guys aren’t blood related either… But you love her like your sister, right? Relation by blood is some stupid concept. Family can mean anything.”  
  
  
At that Carmilla smiled fondly. She really loved Mattie like her family. It was a shame that she wasn’t around that much.  
  
“Yeah, I even love her more than my own blood.”  
  
Laura hummed, watching Carmilla and seeing, how much she adored her sister made her feel a little miserable. Maybe one day she would accept her extended family as her own. For now, one new ‘family member’ was enough. And she decided that Carmilla had the honor to be accepted by her first, so she had an idea.  
  
  
  
  
  
“What are you doing on Friday?”, Laura asked, when both of them were walking up the stairs to the front entrance of their school.  
  
“Why?”, Carmilla was being looked at weirdly, because she dared to walk beside _Ms. Sunshine and Popular_ too closely. (Actually she had anticipated that the blonde would vanish from her side, once they stepped on the ground of Silas High.)  
  
“Danny is throwing a party at the beach in the Summer Society Yacht Club, and I thought maybe you’d wanna come with me? I mean it’s already September and there aren’t gonna be a lot of days to bathe in the sun anymore…”  
  
“ _You_ want to invite _me_ to one of your legendary parties? I don’t know, creampuff…”, both were standing in front of Laura’s locker, the brunette fiddling with the straps of her backpack.  
  
“What’s wrong with me inviting you?”, Laura didn’t see the problem.  
  
“Oh common, do I really have to spell it out?”, the blonde looked at her in expectancy, and even crossed her arms over her chest, “Fine… Look at me and then look at you… And while you are at it, look at all the students passing us by…”  
  
Laura did, as she was told, granted there were some weird looks thrown at them, but…  
  
  
“And now?”, the blonde shrugged.  
  
“We are from two different worlds… Didn’t you say that at the wedding? That we have been successful in not letting our paths cross? Well, there is a reason for that. When two people live in two different worlds, there is no way that they could ever meet. They miss each other.”  
  
Laura let the words sink in for a moment, “What kind of depressing shit books do you read?”  
  
The dark haired girl didn’t even dignify that with an answer, “Well you know what I mean, don’t you?”  
  
“Well yeah, but I actually wanted to change _that_ , Carmilla. The whole _‘don’t let our worlds collide’_ thing?”  
  
Carmilla’s heart picked up speed. _Well, there went her plans to make the blonde hate her..._ (Actually she had given them up the moment she had seen Laura’s pained expression, when she had said those semi-horrible things to her.) However she still had her doubts about everything.  
  
  
“Why the sudden change of air?”  
  
Laura eyed the floor, pursing her lips, “I’ve never had a sister, you know?”  
  
Carmilla wanted to throw up. She wanted to throw up so badly. _Sister._  
  
“Mhm.”, the brunette managed.  
  
“And maybe… You are not so bad… When you’re not trying to seduce my friends and skipping class or setting the school on fire…”, Laura shook her head in amusement.  
  
“Hey, that was totally LaF’s fau-”, Carmilla realized something, “Wait… You know that I was involved in that?”  
  
Laura gave her a soul-shattering laugh (soul-shattering, because it was so goddamn beautiful), “The whole school knows about that, Carmilla.”  
  
“Yeah, but _you_ know too.”, the brunette insisted on that sole revelation. Laura just shrugged and closed her locker, before turning to her stepsister.  
  
“My dad told me about it. Your mom seems to to tell him everything.”, Carmilla only nodded in response.  
  
  
“It’s weird right? Our parents... The situation...?”, the dark haired girl asked, while they were stalking off in direction of their classroom.  
  
“Tell me about it.”

 

 

 

 

***

  
  
Wednesdays were a pain in the ass _. Like literally._ 9 hours on those freaking chairs that deformed Carmilla’s butt so much, that she could swear it was losing it’s perky shape. (Hello, she had been invited by Silas’ elite to a party, she needed to look good on Friday.) Absentmindedly Carmilla let her gaze wander to the blonde some desks to her right.  
  
Laura had the tip of her pencil on her lips and was smiling slightly. Of course the brunette knew that English was her all-time favorite subject, just after physical ed - which **ew** , but it was good that way. Otherwise Carmilla would seriously start to question where all the stuffed cakes and cookies were going, because that girl was fit as hell, despite her (not at all healthy) intake of calories.  
  
  
  
“Ms. Karnstein, would you please stop staring at Ms. Hollis and pay attention to my class?”  
  
The whole class started to laugh, and the dark haired girl wanted to evaporate again (recently she had wished it upon herself too frequently, just maybe one of those days the wish would be fulfilled by some ancient fairy god thing…).  
  
Carmilla cleared her throat, “I wasn’t staring at Laura.”, she cast said blonde a quick look, who had her eyebrows risen, still looking at the teacher (but Carmilla had studied her face from different angles in the past and knew just almost everything about her -which _very creepy_ ).  
  
“Sure you weren’t.”, the teacher was unimpressed and moved onto the blackboard.  
  
“I wasn’t.”, the brunette started to argue and Mr. Richter turned around again and had this challenging look on his face.  
  
“Shut the fuck up!”, Laura whispered in her direction and Carmilla just shrugged and had her hands up in capitulation. She saw, how the blonde rolled her eyes and shook her head, before turning to her textbook again and a little soft smile decorated her lips.  
  
_God, isn’t she wonderful?_

 

 

 

 

***

  
  
The day of the party was there.  
  
Laura (that beautiful little thing) was wearing a floor-length gown that was sheer. Carmilla had gulped, when she (her eyes) had learned that she was able to outline the bikini that the blonde was wearing underneath. Was her stepsister trying to cause her a heart attack? God that crush of hers was really getting out of her hands.  
  
The brunette on the other hand wasn’t that daring. She was wearing ripped jeans-shorts and a white t-shirt over her bikini, for which she earned some skeptical looks from Laura.  
  
  
“Where’s gloomy McBrood?”, the blonde asked, when Carmilla dug around in her closet.  
  
“What?”, the dark haired girl replied, still buried deep in her unorganized pile of clothes.  
  
“I mean light colors on you? Never seen them.”  
  
Carmilla turned around, “Since when do you pay attention to my clothes?”  
  
“Please, Carmilla don’t flatter yourself… But we have lived together for some weeks now… It’s hard to miss that, when all I see is a dark figure walking around in this house.”  
  
“Well, we are going to a beach, right? So can’t go there clad in black. I would die out of heatstroke.”  
  
It seemed plausible to the blonde, “Whatya lookin’ for?”  
  
“My stupid hat, I… **Hah!** Found it!”, the dark haired girl pulled out a black fedora and put it on her head, as well as the aviators that were resting in her chest-pocket.  
  
  
“Good to go, vampire?”  
  
“You would like that, huh?”, Carmilla drawled, while walking beside Laura.  
  
“I would like _what_?”  
  
“All the biting and stuff? I’m sure you had posters of that sparkly twerp on your walls back at your place.”  
  
“Who is that sparkly twerp you are speaking of so fondly, if one may ask?”

“Edward? Twilight? I could have sworn you watched those movies back to back, when they came out.”

“I did watch those, but no, actually I never liked him.” Carmilla thought about that for a second. Wasn’t every straight girl into him at some point?  
  
“So _who_ did _you_ like then? That werewolf dude?”  
  
  
“Wouldn’t you like to know?”, Laura chuckled and left the house through the front door, after Carmilla didn’t seem to follow, she went backwards and cast the brunette an expecting look, “You comin’ or what?”  
  
“Right, right, party can’t start without Laura Hollis, I forgot…”

 

 

 

***

  
  
At the party no one really went into the water, everyone was just scattered across the beach in nothing but bikinis or shorts (some guys were even wearing speedos, which **ew** …). Carmilla was being looked at funny in the first few minutes. What the dark haired girl hadn’t known, was the fact that Will attended those parties too (yeah, she hadn’t known that her only brother never had missed one of those…).  
  
  
“So kitty, you finally belong to the cool kids, yeah? Our _sis_ is a stepping stone into the world of the popular kids for you, hmn?”, the dark haired boy winked and gulped down his beer.  
  
  
“Dude, we’ve been- oooh who’s that hottie?”, a large puppy dog-esque guy was now towering over the twins.  
  
“ _That hottie’s_ my sister you douche.”, Will punched him (not hard, but hard enough). Yeah, that was Kirsch, the football douche. He was popular, no one paid attention to the underdogs, when being popular.  
  
“Your sister is _that hot_? Why didn’t you tell me about her hotness earlier?”, they were all interrupted, when a ginger giant came to join them.  
  
“Because you are not allowed to look at other…”, the redhead cast Carmilla a glare, “ _Girls_ …”  
  
“But I can sure as hell appreciate…”  
  
“What are you doing here, Elvira?”, the giantess asked.  
  
And the group just got complete, when Laura joined them all in, “Actually, I thought we could do some _family bonding_ … So I decided to invite Carmilla…”, the blonde gave her best friend a look and cocked her head to indicate her that she wanted to talk to her in private.  
  
  
  
  
“Laura…”  
  
“I know, you don’t like her that much, I mean I never liked her that much either… Everyone in school knows that Carmilla Karnstein is trouble, but she’s really different, when people would give her a chance… I mean, she still is super inappropriate and hits on every girl that is blonde and has legs or who knows, what her preferences are, but I just really want to find a good way to tolerate all of this. Maybe we will be friends or something, ya know? I just want the last two years of our high school experience to be as human and normal as possible, do you understand, why I brought her? Because I need you not to hate me and-”  
  
“Oh my gosh, please just stop for a second, sometimes I wonder, if you breathe, Hollis… How do you…?”, the redhead was overwhelmed, “It’s fine… A little heads up would have been nice, but you are right, a little socializing with Elvira can’t hurt anyone. Maybe she will lay off the sarcastic comments in phys ed, if I play nice too.”  
  
“Thanks, Danny!”, Laura beamed.  
  
“Sure thing, Hollis.”  
  
  
Carmilla looked at the interaction with observant eyes. She wished, there were more people of _‘her type’_ there. Not that she didn’t enjoy the fact that Laura had asked her to go with her, but still the whole thing wasn’t really her cup of tea, especially not since Agent Orange had occupied the only interesting person in the whole crowd.  
  
  
  
At some point of the afternoon Will had finally found a moment alone with Laura, “So you and my sister huh?”  
  
“What?”  
  
“Just been watching you guys. You seemed very close.”  
  
“Yeah, well we came here together, and I know that she doesn’t really have many friends here… Those types of parties aren’t really her thing.”  
  
“What do you think her _type_ of _thing_ is?”, he asked, his emphasis was on the word ‘type’.  
  
“Well you know those angry, existentialist punk rock fight club thingies… That sounds like something she would enjoy.”  
  
  
“Huh, and yet she is _here_ …”, the weasel- uh Will spoke.  
  
“Yeah, your point being?”  
  
“I’m just wondering why you put up with her. She’s a piece of work.”  
  
Laura frowned, “She’s your sister. How can you say something like that about your own sister?”  
  
“God, she wrapped you around her finger, didn’t she? Gotta give her that…”  
  
“What the hell are you even talking about?”  
  
“My sister has had a crush on you since like forever and it’s really getting worse with you trying to be her friend and all. I’m just saying that, if you were to find… Let’s say _alternative interests_ … Maybe you would spare her the heartbreak, before she were to find out on her own... I mean common, do you really not see through her weird comments around you? The nicknames and the looks? She is gay, you know that right?”, it was pretty clear that he had meant himself with the whole alternative interest thing, which double **ew.** All the other things he had let slip were of course gross too...  
  
“Okay, first of all… No, ew, you are my stepbrother and so is she -well stepsister- so I wouldn’t even go there and pick between any of you… Second of all Carmilla does **not** have a crush on me or whatsoever, we barely know each other and before we ended up as this patchwork family, we barely have ever spoken to each other and the foremost reason of all: she just hits on everything that walks around her. Her flirtatious behavior towards me comes naturally with all the girls she has to woo. I guess she just doesn’t ever stop.”  
  
“Think whatever…”, the guy leaned in, and looked at Laura closely, “… But I am her twin, don’t forget it. I know her much better than anyone else, and I’m telling you… She does like you.”  
  
  
In that moment Laura let her gaze wander through the crowd and came to a halt on the brunette, who had been looking at her (probably that whole time she was talking to her brother). Carmilla cast her a small smile, before indulging into a talk with some girl from the volleyball team.

  
Laura let out a breath, she didn’t know she was holding.  
  
Carmilla Karnstein, her brooding new stepsister was definitely not pining over her.

Laura decided not to believe Will. He had always been a weird guy. He was **not** telling the truth, nope...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Stalk Me.](http://angstfreehuman.tumblr.com/)   
> 


	4. Laura Hollis, The Matchmaker

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Oh my god, Els. I think my stepsister is kind of into you…”

Laura came home late in the afternoon. Mondays were tiring, and with her as the president of the school committee, she had extra things that needed to be taken care of. What wondered her was the fact that Carmilla’s door had always been open in the previous few days. Usually she would have thought that the dark haired girl would busy herself with just another girl that she would find at school/on the streets/in a brothel - _wherever_ the heck she found them.  
  
She welcomed the change, because it meant more bonding time with her stepsister. Lately they had been talking a lot about their previous lives. Carmilla had opened up about her father leaving them, when she was little and had shared her stories about how Mattie always took the blame for the twins causing chaos. It was nice. Laura had thought that she would be losing her father, but never had she anticipated that she would be gaining a companion, a friend even.  
  
And what do friends do? _They help you!_  
  
  
  
“Carmilla?”, the blonde asked and knocked on the door frame of her stepsister’s room.  
  
The brunette turned around on her bed, clearly she had been sleeping, “Hey, what’s up?”  
  
“Were you sleeping? I can come back later, if you-”  
  
Carmilla was already rising up in her bed and shook her head, “No, no, it’s okay creampuff, come in.”  
  
“Okay…”, Laura sat down on the edge of the other girl’s bed, “So… You know that junior prom is approaching right?”  
  
“Yes, I was aware… I mean, it’s only October, but I guess you have to do a lot of stuff for that? Preparations?”  
  
“Right… And I was wondering… Would you want to-”, suddenly Laura was feeling dumb for even wanting to ask for help. Carmilla never had been involved in school-related things.  
  
“Wondering what? What did you want to ask me?”  
  
“No, nothing, I was… I have enough people that are helping me… It was dumb.”  
  
“Hey, I can help, if you want, you know?”  
  
Laura nodded, clearly lost in thought.  
  
  
  
“Why are you sleeping at this time?”, the blonde suddenly asked.  
  
“Uhm, I was exhausted from school. You should be familiar with that.”  
  
“Yeah… But usually you have some girl in your room, when I come back. I haven’t seen one in days.”  
  
Carmilla arched an eyebrow, “Well, aren’t you attentive?”  
  
“Of course I am. When the despoiler of virtue isn’t… _Despoiling_ anymore, I will grow curious…”, Laura was looking at Carmilla now directly, “What’s up with that, really?”  
  
The brunette shrugged, “Don’t feel like it.”  
  
“That’s it? Carmilla Karnstein just stops seducing people? Are you sick? Did you suffer from concussion?”  
  
The dark haired girl threw a pillow at her stepsister, “Oh shut up, it’s not like you know anything about _that._ ”  
  
Laura giggled, “Well, I certainly could produce a list with all the hearts you’ve broken in the last year.”  
  
“Let’s maybe not talk about me so much… Why don’t we talk about _your_ love life for once?”  
  
“Because yours is so much more fun to talk about.”, the blonde chuckled.  
  
“Seriously though…”, the dark haired girl scooted closer to the other one, “I know almost nothing about you in that section, and uh… We’re kind of friends now, right? Tell me something about you.”  
  
The only thing Carmilla knew about Laura was that brief fling with some football douche. (At first she thought those were silly rumors spread around by stupid imbecilic kids, until she had seen them sucking face.) The day she had witnessed that, all of her hopes were shattered. It was a fresh memory, not even one year had passed by since that.  
  
Laura considered the offer for a second. Were they that close yet?  
  
  
“Another time?”, the blonde weakly offered, Carmilla knit her eyebrows together, before curling up one side of her mouth.  
  
“Sure creampuff.”  
  
  
The blonde stood up and wanted to step out of the room, but looked back, “You are never gonna call me by my name, huh?”  
  
Carmilla only clicked with her tongue (something Laura had picked up on, because she seemed to do that often), “That wouldn’t be special anymore then, would it?”  
  
“You call everyone by some weird nickname, so that really doesn’t make it special, Carmilla.”, Laura replied and got into her own room.  
  
  
How wrong she was by that. Carmilla had her nicknames all sorted out. The most important ones at least.  
  
There was LaFontaine, her eldest and best friend, the nerdy _Gingersnap_.  
There was Perry, the art nerd (LaF never shut up about her), who she fondly called _Curly Sue_.  
There was _Xena_ , the ginger giant. To Carmilla’s disdain she was Laura’s best friend and briefly she even considered them as _‘gal pals’_.  
  
And then there was the _Creampuff_ -also known as _the cutie_ that had stolen her heart- _Laura, Ms. Popular, Hollis_. Those were her special nicknames for her (along some others she didn’t use that frequently), but she had never used them on anyone else.  
  
The term _Cupcake_ was used for all the other girls. (Partly because she didn’t remember their names, but also because it always had been that way, really.)  
  
  


 

***

  
  
“Laur, what are you doing?”, Danny sat down beside her friend in the dining hall. The blonde was studying the pages in front of her intently.  
  
“Just looking through some ideas for this crap… Ugh, do you know what theme on which the board decided on for junior prom?”, the redhead shrugged and threw her a questioning look, “ _A Dance Under The Stars_. Now I have to find a way to make that shit happen. How the hell am I gonna turn our gym into the night sky?”  
  
“Well, you could just do it outdoor? Why have a fake thing, when you could easily have the real thing?”  
  
“No, I can’t.”, Laura rolled her eyes, “I already came up with that by myself, but the dance is at the end of November and the temperature won’t be in my favor, unless you wanna change the dress code into ‘ _parkas and jackets_ ’.”  
  
“Eyyy, don’t beat yourself up with that so much, just ask the principal, maybe she has an idea, what the board has envisioned?”  
  
Laura just made some grunting noises and leaned her head into her arms that were propped up on the table.  
  
“Coooome oooon! I’m gonna buy you some pie, you look miserable.”  
  
“Yeah… Maybe pie will cheer me up.”  
  
They both got up, and stood in line of the cafeteria, when Laura caught sight of her stepsister. The blonde waved frantically -which Carmilla hadn’t noticed- but Danny did.  
  
  
“Why the hell are you suddenly best friends with Elvira?”  
  
Laura cast her friend a disapproving look, “Don’t call her _that_.”  
  
The tall girl frowned, “She calls me much worse.”  
  
“Well, maybe if you had been nicer to her in the past, she wouldn’t have started it in the first place.”  
  
“Why are you defending her to me? We have been friends for eight years now and you never cared for her.”  
  
“That’s not true, I did care about the fact that you were a huge prick to some people back in junior high. I just didn’t want to get involved in all of that. You scared me back then, to be honest.”  
  
Danny’s eyes grew wide, “Wow that’s how you feel about me, huh? She is just as bad. Do you not hear the rumors about her? I mean _fucking through the entire female race_ is such a great quality isn’t it?”  
  
Laura had her defenses up, “You know what? Forget pie, I just lost my appetite.”, the blonde rushed past her friend and clasped the binder that she was holding onto tightly.  
  
  
  
  
Carmilla had watched her friend look at (=creep on) Perry from afar. The curly redhead was always in her own world, listening to music and drawing weird looking stuff in the dining hall. Nobody sat beside her, she was the perfect loner. The brunette sometimes felt bad for her, and sat across from her, never talking to her though. She mostly did it, when LaFontaine would be meeting her for lunch, making sure that they would be in immediate proximity to their crush, but somehow they never showed themselves thankful.  
  
  
“So are you ever gonna talk to _her_ or…?”, Carmilla started the conversation, after she had observed the redhead pine over the other redhead.  
  
“What?… Uh…”, they cleared their throat, “I uh, have to go.”, suddenly they were in a standing position and scurried away.  
  
The dark haired girl picked up her bag and got out her copy of whatever book she had thrown in there in the morning without looking (she did that for the surprise effect). Just as she was about to turn onto the first page, a voice startled her from the back.  
  
  
“Can I sit with you?”, it was the creampuff.  
  
Carmilla turned around, incredulity written on her face, “Uh, sure…?”  
  
  
Laura nodded hesitantly and took the seat beside her stepsister, who gave her a short smile and indulged into her book. The blonde sat there quietly for some minutes, before the dark haired girl looked around the room. Yes, of course people would be staring at them. Laura Hollis was someone, you stared at anyways, but now the cutie was also sitting with the infamous Carmilla Karnstein. (Even though everyone knew, that they were stepsisters now, it was a rare sight and honestly? They were just too different.)  
  
  
“Where’s your fan club?”, Carmilla asked the girl beside her, while turning a page.  
  
“My what?”  
  
The brunette chuckled, “Your friends, sweetheart.” _Damn, sweetheart? Really?_ It just slipped out and came so naturally. Fortunately Laura was accustomed to her seemingly endless list of nicknames, so she didn’t even question it.  
  
“Most of them don’t have lunch break at this time on Thursdays… And I kind of had a little fight with Danny.”  
  
“What did Xena do?”  
  
“She said some things I didn’t like…”, Laura looked at Carmilla directly, “Hey, can I ask you something?”, the blonde licked over her lower lip, while waiting for the other girl to answer.  
  
Carmilla inhaled visibly, before closing the book shut and facing her crush, “Sure, what did you want to ask me?”  
  
“Why don’t you and Danny get along?”  
  
The brunette knit together her brows, “How’d you come up with that?”  
  
“I was just wondering, why you guys are so hostile towards each other.”  
  
“Did you two fight about me?”, Carmilla suddenly wanted to know.  
  
Laura shook her head, pressing her lips together firmly, “No, just… Forget it... Danny and I didn’t fight over you, just so you know.” The blonde didn’t know, why she didn’t want Carmilla to know about the fact. Maybe because what Danny said, would hurt her, and Laura didn’t want to hurt her stepsister.  
  
“You’re lying.”, the brunette said, while turning to her book again.  
  
“What?”  
  
Carmilla gave Laura a sideways look, “That thing you do with your lips…” (That thing that distracted the dark haired girl often, when the blonde did it, while lying in English class about having forgotten her assignments at home, when clearly she had been partying the night before.) “… You do that when you are not telling the truth.”  
  
“That’s so not true!”, Laura tried to argue. _It wasn’t, was it?_  
  
“If you say so, creampuff.”  
  
  


***

  
  
Greg and Veronica were sitting at the breakfast table and talking about the morning news, when both of their daughters busted in laughing loudly and getting themselves their share of coffee and hot chocolate for the morning.  
  
  
“You two seem chipper…”, the mother eyed her daughter closely, “Since when are you such a morning person? Usually you greet me with silence in the morning.”  
  
Carmilla just rolled her eyes and made her way to the table, sitting beside her stepfather. Laura joined her in on the round breakfast table.  
  
“So you are seeing the development of character too?”, Laura joked.  
  
“Can’t I be happy for once, without having people ask me, if I was sick?”, the young brunette asked.  
  
  
Everyone looked at each other and then they all came to the same conclusion.  
  
“Actually no.”  
  
“Not really.”  
  
“No.”  
  
  
“Whatever…”, Carmilla rolled her eyes, “Are you ready to go to school, creampuff?”  
  
“What, are you running away from this conversation that easily, Carmilla?”, Greg asked with a wide grin.  
  
  
Carmilla just narrowed her eyes at him, before making her way out of the room. Laura chuckled and hurried right after.  
  
  
“We raised good kids.”, the man said to his wife, once the kids were outside.  
  
“Oh yeah, _you_ did. I don’t know how she does it, but your daughter clearly is a good influence for Carmilla.”  
  
“Yeah, Laura is a sunshine. No one can resist her light.”, Greg smiled fondly of his daughter.  
  
  


***

  
  
“So you and Danny? What’s up with that?”, SJ asked Laura, while they were waiting in front of their class for the bell to indicate the end of their free time.  
  
“Nothing, just a little misunderstanding between friends.”  
  
“Really? Because she kinda is avoiding us all now, thinking we choose you over her or something, just because she saw us stand with you yesterday.”, Natalie threw in.  
  
“Don’t worry, Nat. I’ll just apologize the next time I see her, so you guys can stop choosing sides. It really wasn’t even that big of an argument.”  
  
  
“Hey Laura…”, one of the cheerleaders was approaching the popular-girl-squad (that’s how other students called them).  
  
“Els… How are you?”, Laura asked with a polite smile.  
  
“Great, um, can I talk to you for a second in private?”  
  
“Sure…”  
  
  
  
Once they were out of hearing-distance to the others, the blonde blurted out her words like a waterfall, “James and I broke up.”, Laura was looking at her in surprise.  
  
“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that… Are you ok?”  
  
“Yeah, yeah, I’ve never been better actually…”, the cheerleader got closer to Laura, “I need you to help me with something.”  
  
“Sure? What’s up?”  
  
“I need you to set me up with Carm.”  
  
“Carm?”, the nickname amused Laura very much, “That how her friends call her?”  
  
Elsie didn’t answer the question, “Are you helping me now or what?”  
  
“Well, I don’t know. I think, maybe she is interested in someone in particular, because I haven’t seen a girl in weeks with her….”, Laura saw, how Elsie’s face fell, “… Actually I haven’t seen one since I walked in on _you guys_ …”  
  
Could Carmilla have a crush on Elsie? That seemed totally legit now. Everything made sense to her.  
  
Some time ago, when Will was talking about Carmilla having a crush on her… He must have mixed up the signals.  
Carmilla was secretly crushing on Elsie, and that was the reason for the brunette to act out of her nature. _Yeah, Hollis that was so totally it._  
  
“Oh my god, Els. I think my stepsister is kind of into you…”, the blonde’s eyes grew wide, “I’ll talk to her about that, yeah?”  
  
“Thanks! And also thanks for telling me the thing with the girls… When I hooked up with her in summer, I thought she was only interested in my body, but hearing _that_ is nice… She really is great and _so hot_ … Ugh my summer ended too quickly…”  
  
Laura made a disgusted face, “You are telling me that you guys have… The entire summer, really…? Ugh, nevermind.”  
  
“So, you gonna help me, right?”  
  
“Yeah, I’m gonna talk to _Carm_.”, Laura giggled, “ _Carm, Carm, Carmie, Carm_. That sounds so _cute_.”  
  
  


***

  
  
Carmilla was working on her homework (really, since when did she care to do them before the day it was due?), when Laura cheerily entered her bedroom, whistling some bad pop song.  
  
  
“Creampuff, what’s got you all jittery? Did the entire football team ask you out for prom today?”  
  
“What? **Ew** gross, who is spreading that rumor again?”  
  
“No one, I figured it would be a given, considering the fact that you went with that guy from senior year last year?”  
  
Laura looked at the other girl in bewilderment, “Seriously though, did you stalk me or something? Why do you know so much about me?”  
  
“Please…”, the brunette scoffed, “The entire school knows that you guys dated.”  
  
“Yeah sure, call our 1 month liaison a relationship, will ya?”  
  
Carmilla arched an eyebrow and regarded the blonde with direct eye-contact. “Why’d you break up with him actually? He was good-looking... I think?”  
  
  
“So not why I wanted to talk to you… **Now** …”, Laura jumped on Carmilla’s bed, “What do you think of Elsie?”  
  
Carmilla turned around slightly, resting her pen on her notebook and facing her stepsister.  
  
“You wanted to talk to me about my _‘hoes’_?”, the dark haired girl made quotation marks in the air with her fingers.  
  
“Elsie is **not** a _hoe_. She’s sweet and nice and hot and stuff… Ya know.”  
  
“Sounds like _you_ wanna get into her pants.”  
  
Laura furrowed her brows, “No, she’s not really my type.”  
  
That made Carmilla’s heart sink into her stomach. _Yeah, totally straight._  
  
  
“Anyway, I asked you, how you liked her.”  
  
“I like her just fine, why?”  
  
“Well… She likes you too.”, Laura let out all chipper.  
  
“I know, otherwise she wouldn’t have let me fu-”  
  
“ **Okay, woah, gross**. There are boundaries to those things. I don’t wanna hear about _that._ ”  
  
Carmilla chuckled, “You are gonna completely ignore that I have a sex life?”  
  
“Yeah, and in return you get to ignore mine, sounds like a plan, no?”  
  
“Sure, creampuff. I will forget about all the beefcakes you bring into your room and have fun with.”, the brunette waved her stepsister off with a hand.  
  
“Shut up, not everyone has to be _that active_.”  
  
“I’m not saying that, I’m just saying that you look a bit tense, creampuff. Maybe you would need to relieve some of that… _Tension_.”  
  
“I can handle myself very well. Thank you very much.”  
  
“Are you implying that you touch yourself over there, in that room of yours? When you’re all by yourself...?” The thought of it should absolutely not turn her on...  
  
“Oh my god! _That’s_ **not** -“, Carmilla was laughing out loud, “You are **so** unbelievable…”  
  
“Well cutie, whatever helps with your tension. I’m just happy that you’re capable of _taking care of yourself_.”, the brunette wiggled with her eyebrows.  
  
Laura groaned, “This conversation is so not going in the right direction.”  
  
“ _Entirely too tightly wound_ …”, Carmilla drawled with that annoying smirk.  
  
  
“Excuse me, now can you stop distracting from the real thing here?”  
  
“Sure cutie, now tell me, what you had in mind.”  
  
“I want you to go on a date with Elsie.”, Laura thought about it for a second, before correcting herself, “No, actually, Elsie wants it, and I’m here to deliver the good news.”  
  
Carmilla knit together her brows, averting her gaze to the floor below her. _Seriously?_  
  
  
  
“I don’t want to go on a date with her.”, the voice was small and raspy.  
  
Laura was confused, “But I thought you liked her?”  
  
“I do, as my _study buddy_ … You know… To help me release stress and all… But nothing more.”  
  
“But you… **Okay** …”, the blonde huffed out a breath, “I know you are not well-versed in the whole feelings-thing, but have you caught onto your own behavior lately?”  
  
“No, but I’m sure you’d like to share with the class, anyway. Go on, creampuff.”, Carmilla encouraged her.  
  
“You never bring home girls anymore, you are all alone by yourself in your room, or with me, instead of going out. You… _Oh my god_!”, Laura stood up and looked at the notebook on Carmilla’s desk, “You are doing homework on a Friday, instead of putting on some slutty corset and those damn leather pants and going off to _god knows where_ … That’s not normal for you.”  
  
“Where would you know my _normal_ from?”  
  
“Because _you_ have had your share of gossipmongers gushing about you… I might have heard a few things…”  
  
“Have you now?”, Carmilla challenged the blonde.  
  
“Yeah… The thing with Ell Walker? Just like everyone talked about me and that senior guy, there also were rumors cursing about the _broody punk chick_ and that _hot senior volleyball chick_.”  
  
Carmilla didn’t like talking about _her_. Especially not with the person, who she’s been pining for. Ell had been her consolation prize. Funny, witty, charming, hot as hell and a senior girl at Silas. She had forgotten about Laura, while being with her, until everything came crashing down…  
  
“Well, what can I say? Apparently I’m a popular girl just like you.”  
  
“Yeah you are.”, Laura nodded in affirmation.  
  
“Popular, but not adored by everyone… But I do not have a desire to be like you... I like my broody image.”  
  
  
Laura saw, the defenses go up, so she decided to swim on the surface again. “You are actually pretty sweet, if you only decided to show it, Carmilla. You would be loved by everyone, if you just were… Like you are at home. If you were to let people in, you wouldn’t be that scary. Hell, I even admit that I like you… A bit.”  
  
Carmilla had a soft smile on her face, “Yeah?”, but the moment was fleeting, “I don’t want to change myself for others, just so they like me though.”  
  
“But why do you consider it changing yourself? You are like this at home... So that ultimately means, _this_ is you. This nice 16-year-old girl... That facade you have on, when at school, is not being yourself.”  
  
“No.”, Carmilla shook her head, “It really isn’t my true, inner self. What I am here, with you… _This_ is only what _you_ get to see.”  
  
Laura sighed, she really didn’t understand, what her stepsister was implying. For her the words meant something like _‘You are allowed to see that, because I let it on at home.’_ instead of the real _‘I’m only like this to you, because I’m terribly in love with you.’_.  
  
“Well, however.”, the blonde made her way to the door, “If you decide to admit to your crush on Elsie, come to me. I will help you.”  
  
  
“I **do not** have a crush on Elsie!!!”, Carmilla hollered back.  
  
  
“Sure you don’t!”, came the muffled reply.  
  
  
  
Carmilla propped up her elbows on the desk in front of her and threw her head onto the desk.  
  
_Worst. Crush. Ever._


	5. Flabbergasted

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Et voilà, you have your starry, starry night.”

Carmilla and Laura walked into their school, talking animatedly about the movie that they all had been watching together as a family the previous night, when the blonde caught sight of her best friend. Danny was standing at her locker with Kirsch and one of his best friends, who played on the football team with him.  
  
“Carmilla, I’ll talk to you later, I’m gonna…”, she cocked her head in Danny’s direction.  
  
The dark haired girl wordlessly passed her stepsister and rushed away.  
  
“Okay? Guess, I’m just gonna see you in class then?”, Laura was already talking to herself.  
  
  
  
“Hey Dan.”, the tiny human approached her tall friend, who kissed her boyfriend goodbye. The guy beside Kirsch had looked at Laura, when she’d been approaching the redhead.  
  
“Hey Hollis.”  
  
“So, I haven’t seen you around lately… I mean you never came to lunch last Thursday?”  
  
“Yeah, about that-”  
  
“Just don’t make up a lame excuse. We both know it was because we had that stupid fight or whatsoever… It wasn’t even a fight, just…”, the blonde trailed off.  
  
“Laura, you have friends, so you can tell them your opinion, you know? It just hurt to find out that you think I am a horrible person… You could have said something back then…”  
  
“I didn’t know, how to… I was having trouble on my own… I just let you be… Not only because I was scared of you, because yeah, I let it sound like you were only scary to me… But also because I needed you as a friend, and back then you were a great friend and… However I am not gonna say sorry for telling you that you were a bitch back when in junior high, and I really would like you to apologize to Carmilla…”  
  
“Hell no.”, the redhead shook her head, “I’m not gonna say sorry to her.”  
  
Laura let out an exasperated sigh, “Fine… But you won’t be a bitch about me hanging out with her, because we are… Kinda friends and I like her and I say she’s cool, so no snarky comments whatsoever about her.”  
  
“Okay… With that I can live.”  
  
“Good… You may be dismissed now. Have a good history lesson.”, Laura said to her friend, walking off in the other direction.  
  
“You have fun out there on the track.”  
  


 

 

***

  
  
Carmilla didn’t regard Laura with eye-contact at all. There was like radio silence happening between them, which was actually pretty normal, considering the fact that running needed condition (something the dark haired girl was lacking apparently).  
  
“Hey…”, Laura emerged from somewhere behind Carmilla and panted heavily. _Sweaty Laura? Sexy Laura_. The brunette could have smacked herself.  
  
“Creampuff… Did you just lap me?”  
  
“Yeah well you are not really cut out to run a marathon, are you?”  
  
“How can you talk?”, the dark haired girl shot back, clearly having trouble breathing. Laura slowed down to match her stepsister’s speed.  
  
“Well, years of training… My dad sent me to those Krav Maga lessons at eight and I kinda got stuck with all kinds of sports.”  
  
“Yeah? I rather stick to one kind of sports, which involves a real good time.”, Carmilla panted out.  
  
“Oh really? What are you-“, Laura caught onto the innuendo (which wasn’t even an innuendo, it was just blatantly obvious, what she had meant), “ **Ew.** ”  
  
  
  
“Alright ladies, you all did very well! You can go change now!”, the coach called out, so both of the girls slowed down, sauntering over to where their sports bags rested and Carmilla leaned forwards, placing her hands on her knees to steady herself.  
  
Laura got out her water bottle and started drinking. Apparently breathing evenly was not a hard task for her at all.  
  
“Want some?”, the blonde offered her stepsister some of her water.  
  
Carmilla took it without a word, drinking, and gave it back with a small ‘thanks, creampuff’.  
  
  
  
“Hey Carmilla?”, Laura started, once they were at the lockers.  
  
“Yeah?”  
  
“Have you thought about the whole Elsie thing?”  
  
The brunette groaned, “I told you I don’t wanna hear it. I am **not** into her that way.”  
  
“But why don’t you even try? I mean, you said you didn’t have the need to hook up with anyone right now, which is like good, because you could finally start to think about serious relationships.”  
  
“Really? This coming from _you_?”  
  
Laura made a sour face, “What is _that_ supposed to mean?”  
  
“You haven’t dated anyone in ages… Or like hooked up with no one.”  
  
“You don’t know that.”, the blonde felt like she had to defend herself.  
  
“I don’t? When was the last time you kissed someone?”  
  
“In summer.”  
  
Carmilla immediately looked up in surprise.  
  
“In summer? Like… This _last_ summer?”  
  
Laura rolled her eyes, “Yes, is that that hard to believe? Am I that awkward and bad-looking?”  
  
“No, you’re absolutely not… You’re amazing… Well, amazing as in you know, you’re popular and cute and uhhh… Anyone in school finds you attractive, I’m sure.”  
  
“Well I’m not sure about everyone, but thanks for the vote of confidence…”  
  
Carmilla was still not letting that one revelation go, partly because Laura finally opened up in that matter, and partly because those words had torn out her heart once more, and she couldn’t just rest on the uncertainty, “What happened in summer?”  
  
“Well… Our parents got married in summer. You were there.”  
  
“You know exactly what I am talking about… Was it someone from school?”  
  
Laura shrugged, “I don’t kiss and tell, Carmilla.”, the blonde was already walking away again, Carmilla following suit.  
  
  
“Oh common, I’ll tell you everything you wanna know about me too.”  
  
“Yeah, actually, no thanks, I’ll pass. I don’t wanna know about how many girls you’ve slept with.”  
  
“Why? Do you think there were that many?”  
  
Laura stopped in her tracks, facing the other girl, “You tell me.”  
  
“There were a total of 3 girls I’ve ever been intimate with.”, Carmilla delivered the ultimate answer.  
  
“Three? **Only three**?”, surprise evident in Laura’s voice, the brunette chuckled at that.  
  
“Shocker, huh? What did you think? That I was a wandering slut?”  
  
“No.”, Laura knit her brows and shook her head, “Even if it had been 30, I would never think _that_ of you… Don’t even let anyone call you that.”  
  
“I don’t. No one has the right to judge about me, but there isn’t anything to judge about me anyway.”  
  
“Yeah… 3 is…” A lot less than the number Laura Hollis was hiding. “That’s not that many.”  
  
“Hmmn, I do enjoy the company of girls, there has been a crazy amount of girls I’ve kissed, but there weren’t that many I went further with.”  
  
“What about all the girls you brought home with you since I moved in?”  
  
“You know, I don’t always have to have sex with them.”  
  
“Interesting…”, Laura nodded her head slowly.  
  
“Care to share something in that department with me too? Because I’m starting to feel like you could write a whole entire book about the things you know about me and I couldn’t even tell anyone what your favorite color is, if they asked-”  
  
“It’s yellow.”, Laura interjected.  
  
“I know that, I was just giving a weak example. ” Of course she did know that. She knew almost everything superficial about her. (Creep.) However she wanted to know the things, she didn’t know or have an idea about.  
  
The school bell rang just in that moment.  
  
_Saved by the bell!_  


 

***

  
  
Carmilla was sitting in her car and reading a book, when someone tapped on her window.  
  
_The creampuff._  
  
  
The brunette let her window down a bit, “Hey, wanna give me a ride home?”, Carmilla nodded and cocked her head to the passenger’s seat. Laura got the hint and circumvented the car to get in. “What are _you_ still doing here?”  
  
“Oh… I just got so fascinated by Kant that I lost track of time…”  
  
“So you read Kant in your free time in our school parking lot? I guess, I’m just a lucky gal that you forget to care about time. Gosh, Carmilla, you could have been home by now!”  
  
  
Of course the dark haired girl had lied. She had been waiting to give the cutie a ride. (Knowing that she had a 30 minute meeting with the school board after school.) Only the reading Kant part was the truth. She really could pass time with him.  
  
  
“So, how’s the planning for prom going? We have 3 weeks left, huh?”  
  
“Everything’s set up… I have all the sponsors’ banners and stuff… But still not coming up with an idea to recreate the night sky in our gym.”  
  
“Well… Have you thought about having stars on the ceiling?”  
  
“Yeah… We are working on _that_ , obviously…”, Laura let out a little bit more annoyingly as she intended to.  
  
“I was just thinking… There are those tiny LED lamps that you can buy everywhere which work with those tiny cell batteries? You could stick them to the ceiling, have the big windows cover up with some black cloth or whatever, so that no artificial light comes in.”  
  
“So that it looks like the real night sky… You are a genius! I knew, I should have asked you earlier!”, the blonde exclaimed, while Carmilla pulled out of her spot.  
  
  
“Et voilà, you have your starry, starry night.”  
  
“Was that a reference to that old 70ies song?”, Laura asked, the other girl, who shot her a short look of surprise.  
  
“I did not know that you knew good music.”  
  
“That is good music for you? So you like cheesy old stuff, huh?”, the blonde teased, “Wouldn’t have thought that the punk chick also had this soft side to her.” Of course she knew that, she had seen it often lately, but that face Carmilla was making was so priceless.  
  
“Shut up. I’m even surprised that you know what that song is.”  
  
“Well, I don’t just listen to bad pop music, as you would put it.”  
  
  
“Back to our topic though… With the dance thing… Would you… I mean you don’t have to, because it’s already a great help that you came up with such a cool thing you know and I wouldn’t wanna impose myself on your super-tight schedule, but it’s just _you_ would be a great help, ‘cause obviously you are great with these things and-”  
  
“Oh god, cut to the point, will you?”  
  
Laura’s face turned red, “Right… Uh, would you like to help me with that?”  
  
“Sure.”, Carmilla sank in her seat a little, clutching the steering wheel. She couldn’t say no. Actually she didn’t want to say no. This meant she would be spending a lot of time with her crush. An unhealthy amount of time actually. They were already spending a huge part of their lives with each other, now it just piled up a little more.  
  


 

***

  
  
Laura was sitting on her bed with some pictures from her childhood scattered here and there. She smiled fondly at them, there was one with her mother holding her as a baby. She’d only been some weeks old.  
  
“Dear, did you want to have dinner with us?”, Veronica called out from outside Laura’s room.  
  
“No, I am not hungry, but thanks.”, there were some steps further away, until someone decided to knock on her door. “Come in.”  
  
Carmilla’s mother peeked through a tiny creak, “Are you sure?”  
  
“Absolutely.”  
  
Veronica’s gaze fell on the photos on the bed, “What are you doing?”  
  
  
“Just… Uh… Reminiscing.”, the blonde was about to pack away the pictures into the tiny box she got them from, but Veronica was already inside of her room and of course she had recognized the woman that had raised her stepdaughter.  
  
“You miss her very much, hmn?”  
  
Laura squirmed under her gaze, “Yes.”, was her curt answer.  
  
“Of course you would. She was your mother. She must have loved you a lot.”  
  
The young girl nodded.  
  
“Carmilla is like that with her father too. Even though he was a huge… Bas- _Bad person_ , he was her dad and she misses him. I wish he would be there for his children at least… But he took the easy way out.”  
  
“Still _you_ got your happy ending.”, Laura smiled weakly.  
  
Veronica smiled, “Yeah I did. Your dad is a great guy and I’m so happy that we made the decision to lessen both of our baggage by being together. He loves you very much and he loves seeing you getting along with Carmilla… As do I actually. It’s great that you took up on my advice to befriend her.”  
  
Laura thought about it. She’d been right. Her father was at his happiest, when the family came together.  
  
“Actually, I would like eating with you guys tonight…”  
  
  
  
  
Laura was in the kitchen and helping her stepmother with the dishes. Carmilla had dissipated into thin air, when hearing the words _‘Who wants to help with the dishes?’_. Will surprisingly had stayed around. He really was a momma’s boy.

 

  
“So… How is it going with Carmilla?”, the guy asked his stepsister.  
  
“Great.”, Laura was already annoyed with the conversation.  
  
“She profess her love for you yet?”  
  
“Shut up, Will. She is not into me that way. You’re delusional.”  
  
“Okay… If you won’t take her-”  
  
“Don’t even start there.”, the blonde warned.  
  
“Gosh, when was the last time _you_ had some fun?”  
  
“Oh my god, do the Karnsteins don’t know nothing about boundaries?”  
  
“Hey, what’s up with all the hostility?”, Will was raising his hands innocently.  
  
“You should just really stop hitting on me, because it’s kind of gross now… Not that it wasn’t gross before that…”  
  
“Sure… I’m your type though, don’t deny it.”  
  
“My type?”, Laura asked confusedly.  
  
“Yeah. Lean, dark hair…”  
  
“Oh yeah, you forgot: mean-looking-kinda-thug. Totally what I dig. Douchebag.”  
  
“Spoilsport.”  
  
“Asshat.”  
  
“Virgin Mary.”  
  
The wet cloth in Laura’s hand made its way onto Will’s face and she left him alone to finish doing the dishes.  
  
“What? Does that mean, you won’t go to prom with me?”, the dark haired guy asked with a stupid smirk. Yeah, Carmilla and him were totally twins. Laura just flipped him off as a response.  
  


 

 

***

  
  
Carmilla and Laura had been planning on how to set up their gym as the perfect location to stargaze. All of the brunette’s ideas actually made total sense and the other girl never would have thought that her much needed help would be coming from Carmilla. Laura grinned, while the brunette was talking about aligning some of the LEDs like constellations in the real night sky.  
  
  
“What?”, Carmilla threw in, when catching her stepsister staring at her.  
  
“It’s just so cool that you know all of those things about stars. Why do you like the stars so much?”  
  
“Well, it’s comforting.”  
  
“Why’s that?”  
  
“To see the light, you know? It’s always there. When the sun and the moon aren’t there to light your way, there are the stars that will shine bright above you. Perfect little dots that mean nothing to us, when looking closely though, each and every one of them has a story to tell, a journey that has yet to end. I mean, picture it, how many years have they been up there? That’s just crazy. We are nothing in comparison to this light.”  
  
“Woah, philosopher much?”  
  
“No, just interested in unimportant things, I guess…”, Carmilla cleared her throat, “Don’t you like the stars?”  
  
“Well, I guess I do. Apparently I haven’t been able to see them in the right light this whole entire time…”, Laura picked at her own hair, which was clinging to her fuzzy sweater due to electrostatic- _whatever._ She wasn’t good with science.  
  
  
“Maybe one day I can tell you a bit more about them.”  
  
Laura smiled, “Yeah, that would be really great, Carm.”, at that the brunette’s face faltered.  
  
“Don’t call me _that_.”  
  
The blonde frowned, “Why? I heard Elsie call you that.”  
  
“Well, not in front of me she doesn’t. I hate it.”  
  
“Why?”  
  
“I just hate it okay?!”, the dark haired girl suddenly got loud.  
  
“I’m sorry…”, Laura’s voice was small.  
  
Carmilla softened immediately, “It’s just… My dad used to call me that… And… Well… **No one** else calls me that…”  
  
“Sure. I won’t anymore. Maybe you’ll teach me, how to use those funny, edible nicknames and I can call you _sweety pie_ or something.”  
  
  
The brunette bit her lip, “You can call me Carm.”  
  
“What? You just said _not to_ call you that.”  
  
“I mean, I snapped, because you said Elsie calls me that… But I actually kinda like it, when _you_ call me that.” And she liked the fact that it indicated that they were sort of close. Even if it was just a stupid nickname with stupid sentimental memories of a father. Who was he anyway? It all had been a blur for her now. Maybe with Laura calling her that she would regain some good connotation with the short version of her uncommon forename.  
  
Laura on the other hand felt honored and truthfully? She liked being friends with Carmilla more and more by the days passing. The broody punk chick had turned out to be quite helpful with many things. For instance: doing homework was much more fun now. Laura was good at English. Carmilla on the other hand was incredibly good with history and maths to her utter amazement. Numbers and Carmilla? Yeah, worked well apparently. So, doing homework together had become fun.  
  
  
  
Maybe it was time now?  
  
Carmilla had told her her fair share of stories.  
  
Now it was time to give her back a bit of trust back. She earned it by then.

  
“Hey Carm?”, Carmilla’s heartbeat increased, hearing that name.  
  
“Yes, creampuff?”  
  
“There are certain things in my life you don’t know about, I believe. It’s because I don’t tell just anyone, because it’s personal and most people would be up in my ass and bugging me, but I think we are sort of friends right?”  
  
Carmilla was all-alert now, “Yes, of course we are.”  
  
The blonde nodded, “Good. That’s good, because uhm…”, she huffed out a breath, “As my friend, I can tell you now that I’m into girls.”


	6. Unreachable

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Because you are so fucking gay that you’d probably fall for her seduction eyes!”

“As my friend, I can tell you now that I’m into girls.”  
  
Carmilla’s mind went blank with that revelation.  
  
  
_I’m into girls._  
  
_I’m into girls._  
  
_I’m into girls._  
  
  
“But…”, the brunette eyed her stepsister for some seconds, before continuing, “You dated that douche last year!”  
  
“I know…”, Laura was frowning, “That was before I knew and _it_ kind of was the factor for our break up, you know?”  
  
“Wait, so you are like full-on gay?”  
  
“What does full-on gay even mean?”  
  
“You don’t like guys at all?”  
  
“No, but even if I did, what would it matter?”, Laura sighed, “See, _that’s_ why I don’t tell people…”  
  
“Hey…”, Carmilla scooted closer to where the blonde was sitting, “I didn’t mean it like that… It’s just… You are into girls…”, this was too much to handle, “You are into girls…”  
  
_But you don’t like me._

  
Laura scoffed, “What?”  
  
_Oh no._ “Did I just say that out loud?”  
  
“Yeah you did.”, the blonde was frowning, “Not every gay girl has to fall for you.”  
  
“Well… Actually…” _Kind of yes._ Carmilla never had been rejected.  
  
“Roofies don’t count you know that right? They have to come willingly.”  
  
Carmilla rolled her eyes on her stepsister, “Oh shut up!”  
  
“You’re not serious though, are you?”, Carmilla dodged that question.  
  
  
 “Why didn’t you ever think of me in that way?”, the dark haired girl asked barefaced now. Clearly more interested in that.  
  
“What do you want me to say?”, Laura was chewing on her lip, “Yes, I do find you attractive. Yes, you are my type.”  
  
  
Carmilla fixated the ceiling with her gaze, her mind was overflown with too much information.  
  
_I’m into girls._ _Yes, I do find you attractive._ _Yes, you are my type._  
  
  
“Let me get this right… You are a lesbian, you think that I’m hot, I am your type, but you never wanted me?”  
  
“I didn’t say you are hot-”, Laura didn’t see the need in hiding the fact that she actually pretty much thought that, “Well, okay you are… But yeah, bummer huh?”  
  
  
“Why?”  
  
“Why what?”  
  
“Why did you never… Why didn’t it ever cross your mind, you know… _You and me_?”  
  
Laura exhaled deeply, “Okay, first of all, please don’t mind anything I say now, because all of the things I once thought about you… I just didn’t know you and I was fed with all those rumors…”  
  
“It’s okay.”, Carmilla nodded.  
  
“So… Yeah, I’m gonna start telling you the story from back when I got together with Rick last year. It was kind of exciting, you know? I had freshly turned 16, and was dating a senior guy… He was sweet and really cute -so everyone told me. I believed them. Until something didn’t feel right and I realized that I wasn’t physically attracted to him. I…”, Laura broke off for a second, “I tried to get rid of that feeling by sleeping with him, but it didn’t help… It just made it worse…”  
  
Carmilla felt a kick in her stomach, “So you slept with him, because you didn’t accept yourself for being gay?”  
  
“No, no, it wasn’t like that… I just… Never realized it that way. I mean, yeah, I found girls attractive before, but never have thought about the fact that I liked them, because I wanted to be with them. I just thought it was me appreciating the female body, you know?”  
  
“Yeah, I understand…”  
  
“Well, now you know a huge secret of mine…”, Laura smiled at the other girl, who felt kind of defeated. All of the odds were against her.  
  
  
“Who are the others that know of this?”  
  
“Only my closest friends… So SJ, Natalie, Kirsch… And Danny.”, at the mention of the ginger giant’s name Carmilla scowled.  
  
“And you dated girls after you found out?”  
  
“Yeah well, define date… I hooked up with girls. I think by the third I knew I was gay for sure.”  
  
Carmilla cleared her throat, “Hooked up? Is there like a secret queue of lesbians in our town that I don’t know of?”  
  
“Yeah, sure, as if you don’t know exactly who you can or can’t fool with.”, the blonde looked at her stepsister sceptically.  
  
“Whatever creampuff… So what then? Did you have a relationship with a girl?” _Or worse: Do you have one now?_  
  
“No… I guess, I just haven’t found anyone that I wanted to be with for a longer period of time, but I stopped messing… Back in summer I had met this one girl, she was sweet and we had a little fling, but I realized I don’t wanna fool around anymore. I never wanted to just fool around. I want a solid relationship. Always have. So I am waiting for my dream girl.”  
  
_Ouch._  
  
Carmilla had to build up her wall again, the wall that was so weak, “See, I wonder though if we have made out with the same girls.”  
  
“Or worse.”, Laura frowned.  
  
“That’s…”, it hurt the brunette to hear that, “ _Nevermind_.”, she bit her lip before continuing, “But you still didn’t explain, _why_ you never thought about me in that way.”  
  
“Well, I did think you were good-looking, as I already told you. Occasionally, when I saw you on the halls, I would turn my head twice… Or last year in maths… I saw you, and I admired you… But it was, because I thought you were being so brave and that it was actually cool that everyone knew of you being gay. However with that also came the rumors…”  
  
“Ahh…”, the brunette nodded, “Yes… The _school slut_ one…? Danny Lawrence everyone, gotta clap for her. I don’t understand, why you two are friends, to be honest.”  
  
“She’s just… She was there, when I needed her, and we’ve been friends for a long time… Danny is not bad, if you get to know her…”  
  
“No thanks, I’d rather scoop out my eyeballs than having to endure the beanstalk for more than a few minutes.”  
  
“ _You two_ …”, Laura shook her head, “Arrgh!”  
  
  
  
“So, what about those rumors now?”, Carmilla wanted to know.  
  
“Well, they were not nice… Everyone was talking about all of the girls, you supposedly have slept with after you and Ell broke up, and I don’t know, I never thought about wanting to end up as one of them, you know? I didn’t want that. And I guess it kind of got stuck with me, I just simply don’t see you that way.”  
  
Carmilla’s heart got broken in the most gentle way there was possible. Wasn’t it completely dumb? She had been infatuated with that girl for what she would call a whole eternity, thinking that she was straight. What an irony it all was… The sun had been in near reach, but it wasn’t glowing in her direction. The sun was too enamored with the other planets.  
  
  
“Okay so… You could never imagine us together?”, yes, the last nail in her coffin had to be placed.  
  
“Well, no! And **ew** , we are kind of sisters now!”  
  
“ **We are not**.”, Carmilla made a disgusted face, “Please don’t say _that_ ever again, not like this…”  
  
Laura frowned, “But that is what we are, our families got merged together, and you said it yourself, we have gotten better at this pseudo-friendship thing… Even more than that even… _You are actually becoming like my **sister**_.”  
  
“Laura stop saying _that_.” The term sister made her feel sick to her stomach.  
  
The blonde looked up in surprise, to be met with soft brown eyes. This was the most unguarded Carmilla Karnstein she had ever encountered.  
  
“You called me by my name.”  
  
“Yeah I did, big deal.”  
  
“You _never_ call me by my name.”  
  
“Yeah I do.”  
  
“No, you never did that.”, Laura argued.  
  
Carmilla rolled her eyes, “I call you Laura in school.”  
  
“Only in front of teachers, where you don’t even address it to me directly.”  
  
“It’s just a stupid fucking name, creampuff!!!”, the dark haired girl lost her temper a bit.  
  
“Jeez… What’s eating you now?”  
  
Carmilla exhaled sharply, “Nothing. I’m gonna go to sleep now.”, she stood up from where they had been sitting on the floor and sauntered across the hallway to her room.  
  
  
  
“Good night, Carm…”, Laura smiled shortly, after the other girl had turned around in order to close her bedroom door.  
  
“Good night.”  
  
  
  


***

  
  
Carmilla was walking to the gym, when a certain annoying blonde ran up to her. Unfortunately it was not the one she wanted.  
  
  
“Hey, hot stuff…”, Elsie smirked.  
  
The brunette scoffed, “What do you want?”  
  
“I was um… Wondering… Has Laura talked to you lately?”, the blonde was fidgeting with the hem of her top, while trying to match her steps with Carmilla’s.  
  
“We live together, it is inevitable that we talk, cupcake.”  
  
“Right…”, the dark haired girl came to a halt, just as she was about to find her phone in her jeans’ pockets, the blonde decided to take a step closer, “Carm…”  
  
“Don’t call me _that_. I told you **not** to ever call me that.”  
  
“Sorry… I just… Has Laura talked to you about me specifically?”  
  
That got Carmilla’s attention, “Yes, she told me that you have developed these…”, the brunette frowned, “ _Feelings_ for me.”  
  
“Yeah… But actually the more important thing should be the fact that you kind of… Are reciprocating those feelings?”  
  
“Am I?”  
  
Elsie knit her brows together, “Aren’t you?”  
  
The dark haired girl sighed loudly, “No cupcake, you got it all wrong. I am not into you…”  
  
“But Laura said… She said you haven’t been with anyone since me…”  
  
“Listen… She is right. I haven’t seen anyone since you. But that’s because unlike popular belief I don’t fuck everything I see. I liked you for summer, you are a nice enough girl, but I thought you had a boyfriend?”  
  
“I broke up with him.”, Elsie was eying the floor.  
  
“Why? It’s not because of me, is it?”  
  
“Well of course it was because of you, you dumbass!”, the blonde wanted to walk away, but Carmilla spoke up.  
  
“I’m sorry Elsie…”, the brunette frowned upon herself and what she was about to say, “I like someone else.”  
  
  
The blonde’s eyebrows shot up in surprise, “Who?”  
  
Carmilla shook her head, “No one you know…”, since Laura’s revelation of her sexuality, the brunette found new hope in trying to get her to see, how much she adored her.  
  
Mission Impossible had already started. How could Laura Hollis ever be a match for her though? She was so much above her league. It was not the looks or the superficial things, because Carmilla knew that she was a looker herself, but it was her as the whole of a person she was.  
  
  
“So there’s also no chance that you’d wanna go to prom with me, right?”, the blonde tried one last time.  
  
“I don’t think so.”  
  
“Well… At least I tried… And hey, Carmilla?”  
  
“Yeah?”, the brunette looked the other in the eye.  
  
“Does _she_ know?”  
  
“Does who know what?”, had she been _that_ obvious?  
  
“The girl you are crushing for? That you like her?”  
  
“No.”, relief washed over Carmilla.  
  
Elsie nodded her head, “You might wanna tell her before it’s too late, you know?”, the blonde gave the dark haired girl a soft smile, hinting at herself with the statement of not waiting for too long.  
  
Carmilla shook her head, “I’ve been into this person before you and I even hooked up. So… I have always been a pretty lost cause.”, the blonde squinted her eyes, “Sorry… Not something I should say to you probably…”  
  
“Well… If you ever change your mind or she doesn’t feel that way about you… These crushes don’t go away that easily, you know? Call me maybe?”  
  
“I’ll hit you up.”  
  
  


***

Laura was working with Danny in the gym (her tallness and strength came to use with setting up the decorations for prom).

 

“So how is Elvira?”

The blonde rolled her eyes, “ _Carmilla_ is perfectly fine.”

“Has she made her moves on you yet?”

“Danny…!”, Laura scolded.

“What? Do you really not see it?”

“See what?”

The tall girl sat down on one of the boxes and huffed out a breath, “She wants to get you into bed.”

“Oh my god.”, the blonde covered her face with her hands, “First Will, and now you?”

“Will also said that?”

“He said she was into me... Which by the way... She is not someone who just sleeps around for your information.”

“ _Into you_ huh?”

“That’s not the point… Dan… I’m not the one she is into… Elsie is.”

Danny frowned, “What? Doesn’t she have a boyfriend?”

“Yeah… They broke up over Carmilla I guess… Don’t tell anyone…”

“No… I won’t, but seriously? She cheats behind poor James’ back and you still are defending her!”

Laura scoffed, “Why do you obsess over her so much?!”

“Because you are _so fucking gay_ that you’d probably fall for her seduction eyes!”

 

_Silence._

 

“Did you just really say that?”, the shorter girl asked in disbelief.

“I didn’t mean it like _that_ …”

“ _Fuck off._ ”

“What?”

“I said **get the fuck out** , I don’t need your help.”

“Laura, I didn’t mean it like that-”

 

“ **She said get out.** ”, there came the raspy, cool voice. Both heads turned to see Carmilla standing there with a risen eyebrow in Danny’s direction.

“Laura…”, the redhead had a pleading tone in her voice.

“That has gone too far… Please just leave… Carm’s gonna help me with the rest.”, at that the tall girl fixated said girl with a glare.

 

 

 

“Creampuff, are you gonna help me with that… Or…?”, the dark haired girl asked, while looking at Laura, who was seemingly caught in her own world. She snapped out of her trance and handed over some LED lights that the brunette used to align together on a string.

“How are we gonna put them up there anyway?”, Laura asked, eying the ceiling. She should have thought about the issue sooner, because prom was about to happen in ten days.

“We aren’t. I talked to my mother about this, and she is having the janitor and some other technician set it up… I even drew out some constellations I would like them to put up… You know? This way it would be almost real…”, Carmilla smiled excitedly to herself, Laura joining her in.

“I love it.”, the blonde stared at the other girl for a little while.

The brunette looked up to be met by a pair of gentle eyes, “What? Do I have something on my face?”

“I love your passion behind this. This is something for school, something so simple.”

“Yeah… Well… Stars are hugely romantic, you know?”

“Is that so?”, Laura laughed, “You would know, wouldn’t you?”, the blonde grinned and went back to work.

“I’d like to think I know what I’m talking about, yes.”, Carmilla eyed Laura, who was already too focussed on the LED lights, that she didn’t answer.

 

 

 

“Hey, Laura?”

The blonde turned to face her stepsister with wide eyes, “What did you say?”

“What?”, Carmilla clearly didn’t understand the other girl’s bewilderedness.

“You called me by my name. Again. Oh my god, I am starting to take notes. Everybody! I am not a creampuff anymore!”

The brunette caught onto that, “Yes… I did.”, she was a little surprised herself. When did _that_ start?

“What did you want?”

“I…”, Carmilla had the urge to tell Laura about her feelings.

For days now she had been struggling with herself. Everything got worse, when Elsie had told her about crushes not going away so easily, not if you don’t have the clear rejection and so far all the blonde had said was that she didn’t really think about the possibility, because of Carmilla’s reputation, right? Maybe she could get somewhere, if she were to just open up about her feelings, if she were to tell her, how she had secretly been pining for her since that specific day…

 

//

  
Laura was sitting beside Danny, whose hip was attached to the one of her boyfriend. They were on their lunch break and raving about the new Twilight movie, when suddenly a flash of black passed them and the hurry the person was in made Danny’s drink go kiss the floor.  
  
  
“Hey watch it, jackass!”, the redhead glared at the person clad in leather jacket and dark hair.  
  
The brunette turned around and wanted to apologize about clearly not minding her way, before she looked down to where the group of people were sitting. _Oh yeah great, the popular table._ There was the beanstalk, the nose picking douche that never even looked at any other people that were ‘below’ him and there was… **That blonde**. The tiny ray of sunshine. Clearly too far away for the moon to just reach up and touch her.  
  
_However, one always wants the things one can’t get._  
  
  
“Dan, just relax, she probably didn’t see it, _right_?”, the girl asked the intruder and smiled almost pleadingly and apologetically at Carmilla.  
  
“Yeah, I was minding my own business…”, that self-righteous giant riled her up, she just couldn’t keep in the comment, “I’m sorry that I didn’t see your giant highness’ drink over here. You know, one would think you giants have big brains to fit into the large skull of yours, but nope… You dumbass had to place it on the edge of the table, huh?”  
  
Laura’s eyes went wide, she just hoped that Danny wouldn’t jump that poor - _and a little rude_ \- girl right on the instant.  
  
“What did you say?”  
  
“Kirsch!”, Laura chimed in, clearly wanting for the moron to do something about his girlfriend. He was busy playing some stupid game on his portable game console though.  
  
Carmilla was too amused by the girl’s effort to keep things civilized. It was cute. She was cute.  
  
_Such a cutie._  
  
“I said sorry for spilling your drink.”, Carmilla replied to the uttered question and wanted to stalk off, when Danny stood up and did that thing that scared off everyone, well apparently _almost everyone._  
  
“What? You think towering over me is going to make me want to run off?”, the dark haired girl laughed.  
  
Danny didn’t say anything in return, she just kept the posture and stared the other girl down.  
  
“God!”, Laura was now standing too and placed her hand on Carmilla’s to drag her away.  
  
The brunette’s attention snapped to the blonde almost immediately and she looked down on their conjoined hands.  
  
“Danny just let it go, she said sorry.”, Laura threw in a look that urged Carmilla to repeat.  
  
“Yeah… _Sorry_ … Whatever…”, she grumbled. _Seriously?_ Since when did she give up so easily?  
  
The sun’s soft rays made her mellow too. _God._  
  
She had seen her from afar before (go figure, they had attended high school together for 5 years in a row), but up that close was something different completely. Their paths never had crossed.  
  
Carmilla walked away backwards, to a table where a girl had been waiting for her.  
  
  
“Laura, what is it with you and always defending the jackasses in this school?”  
  
The blonde only rolled her eyes and sat back down, never giving Carmilla a second thought…  
  
_Laura._ Carmilla on the other hand etched that name into her brain...  
  
  
//  
  
  
“Carm?”, Laura’s voice brought her back.  
  
“Yeah?”  
  
“You seemed like you wanted to ask me something?”  
  
“Oh yeah... So… Junior prom is coming up right?”, Carmilla asked insecurely.  
  
Laura laughed out loud, “Yeah, you are asking me that while preparing our gym for prom, you know?”  
  
“Uh, right…” Since when was Carmilla such a mess?  “I just…”, the brunette cleared her throat.  
  
“Yes?”, Laura looked at her stepsister in anticipation.  
  
  
  
“Would you like to go to prom with me?”


	7. Roses Are Red

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I’m sure the cavalier is going to make himself known to you soon.”

“Would you like to go to prom with me?”  
  
  
Laura frowned, “ _That’s_ what you wanted to ask me?”  
  
The dark haired girl wasn’t sure what to say, “Yeah?”  
  
“You mean, because you don’t wanna go alone, right?”  
  
“Obviously, yes? It is junior prom… So… No one wants to go to junior prom alone.”  
  
“And you didn’t find anyone else to go with, right?”, the blonde asked entirely too many questions.  
  
“No, because I wanted to go with _you_.”  
  
Laura dropped whatever was in her hand, and checked Carmilla’s body language intently.  
  
“I’m sorry, but am I getting this the right way?”  
  
“What do you mean by _the right way_?”  
  
“You are asking me to go to prom with you as a friend, right?”  
  
  
  
“There you two are!”, the principal of the school a.k.a. Carmilla’s mother walked in on them and smiled broadly, “It’s great progress you two! The gym looks like a gloomy cave. I can’t wait to see the outcome of your edition of _A Dance Under The Stars_.”  
  
  
  
“Yeah… Uhm…”, the blonde swallowed down whatever lump she has had in her throat for a while now, “I can’t either… Carmilla here is a total gift…”, she looked over to the dark haired girl, who was probably cursing her own mother for having great timing.  
  
“It’s so good to see you involved in school related work, dear. I have never seen Carmilla lifting a finger for anything like that. You really are a great influence Laura. You two are perfect for each other.”, she smiled fondly.  
  
_See, even mommy dearest agreed._  
  
“Haha, yeah **perfect**.”, Laura forced a smile upon herself.  
  
“Can I help you girls with something?”  
  
“No, uhm actually I… Gotta go…”, Carmilla suddenly bent down and got her backpack from under the table and scurried away, leaving behind a flabbergasted Laura.  
  
“What’s gotten her so nervous? I thought being her mother made me this super cool principal?”  
  
“I wouldn’t know… She’s just is… Uh Carmilla… I mean, you know her… She got that air of mystery around her, doesn’t she?”, nervous rambles were the pupil’s specialty.  
  
“Is everything alright between you two?”, Veronica wanted to know with a frown.  
  
“Super great! We got everything under control, yeah, yep.”  
  
  


 

***

  
  
“Carmilla!”  
  
The brunette flinched, when Laura came bursting through her bedroom door, without even knocking.  
  
“Yes?”, the dark haired girl turned around slightly and waited for the other girl to continue. _Oh god._  
  
  
“Are we… Continuing our conversation from before?”  
  
“Conversation?”  
  
“Well… **You know**!”  
  
“We didn’t have a conversation, I asked you a simple question, which you failed to answer me.”  
  
“Because I still don’t understand it.”, Laura admitted.  
  
“What’s there not to understand? I asked you something and a normal person would respond.”  
  
“But I want to know _why._ ”  
  
“Why I asked?”, Carmilla asked incredulously.  
  
“Well yes- or no actually… Uhm…”  
  
  
“I already told you, I wanted to go with _you_ and that’s why I asked.”  
  
“No _why_ do you want to go with me?”  
  
“Because I like you.”  
  
“Why do you- **Oh!** …”, Laura stopped abruptly, eyeing the other girl meticulously, “Like me? As in, we are good friends and you wanted to go as friends, right?”  
  
Carmilla finally stood up from where she was sitting at her desk, and took a step closer to her stepsister, who watched with sceptical eyes.  
  
  
“I like you…”, the brunette was only a few steps away from the other girl, “Not as my friend, creampuff. I like you for more than that.”  
  
“Best friends?”, Laura’s voice got a higher pitch to it. Oh, she got the implication. Just did not want to believe it.  
  
“No sweetheart, that would be your ginger giant. I wouldn’t dare to come in-between your friendship. I want a position **no one** has occupied yet.”  
  
“A position no one has occupied yet?”, the blonde repeated the uttered words.  
  
“Laura, I want to go to prom with you, because _I like you_. And because usually you are supposed to ask the person you like to be your date to prom, so ultimately I am asking you to be my date.”  
  
_There, it was out._  
  
  
Laura needed some time to process the question or whatever that was, “You like me? As in you _like me_ , like me?”  
  
“Yes. I like you as in more than friends.”  
  
“But… How? When? Wha…?”, Laura shook her head and raised her hands to signify that the brunette shouldn’t get any closer, “You can’t. This is not happening. **Carmilla, no**.”  
  
“What? Why?”  
  
“Get rid of those false feelings!”  
  
Carmilla thought she had misheard, “What? False feelings?”  
  
“You are only feeling like this, because I told you I was gay and now you are trying to prove yourself a point by trying to get me…”  
  
“Is that really what you think?”  
  
“Yes! Of course it is what I think! God…”, Carmilla tried to approach Laura, who backed away, “Don’t come closer… Just…”, she exited the room quickly and got into her own, locking the door behind her.  
  
  
  
_What the fuck did just happen?_  
  
  


***

  
  
Laura was taken to school by her stepmother, who had eyed her suspiciously, when she was about to get into her car instead of Carmilla’s. In the blonde’s defense: the brunette was 5 minutes too late, and the president of the school committee just couldn’t be late for her meeting in the morning.  
  
Skipping some periods were the perks of being elected as the head of the committee due to her popularity. Which also apparently led her to have a variety of prom partners to choose from.  
  
When Laura approached her locker, there were a few roses waiting for her. (A school tradition to ask out your desired date for prom.)  
  
  
“Jeez, Laura. You seem to attract attention to yourself again…”, Natalie nodded approvingly at the flowers sticking to Laura’s locker.  
  
The blonde groaned, “More people that I have to decline?”  
  
“ _More_ people? Who did already ask you?”  
  
“Uh… No one, just thinking of the football douches from last year…”, the blonde took the few roses that were attached to her locker with the single notes placed neatly in the petals.  
  
“Who are they from?”, the other girl asked, when her boyfriend Robert sneakily approached her and put his hands on her stomach, “Hey babe.”, she kissed him shortly, before he let go of her to give her his rose.  
  
“Natalie, I officially am asking you to prom.”, his puppy dog face just was too adorable. Laura smiled fondly of her friends.  
  
The dark haired girl took the flower and smiled.  
  
“You have to say something, Nat.”, the boy urged.  
  
“Of course I’ll go with you, you moron. You didn’t have to get me a stupid flower.”  
  
Laura squinted her eyes at the pair. Natalie didn’t like to admit it, but she totally was a secret romantic softie.  
  
As her friends were busy making out in the public, Laura looked through the roses. One was from Theo something. He was a friend of Kirsch. The others were names she never even had heard of before. There was a Christopher and someone just wrote a B on the note. _Great._  
  
  
“Laura Hollis?”, suddenly the girl was interrupted by a young pupil, who she recognized as someone from the committee.  
  
“Yeah, George, you know me, we see each other in every meeting.”, she responded, sounding incredibly annoyed.  
  
“Right… Uh, those are for you.”, he held up a bouquet of roses, “Someone just bought up all the roses and uhm… There is more in the communal room.”  
  
“Who was- who are they from?”, Laura asked.  
  
Clearly she wasn’t going to accept the sweet gesture, because it most probably would be some douche, however she wanted to thank the young gentleman stalker and politely decline.  
  
“I can’t say. No clue.”  
  
Laura frowned, “So someone wants to go to prom with me, does all of this, and he doesn’t even leave a note or something? How am I supposed to know who he is?”  
  
“I wouldn’t know, sorry, I’m just the messenger. It was done anonymously. I just had the wad of cash lying on my desk and the note saying it is all property of Laura Hollis now.”, the guy apologetically said.  
  
  
  
“I fucking hate you for this.”, SJ was now leaning beside Laura and taking the bouquet Laura had yet failed to accept. The guy left them alone and the dark haired, tall girl started to speak again, “You are taking all the cute guys from us, and you don’t even appreciate them.”  
  
Laura rolled her eyes, “I can’t help it.”  
  
“Yeah you can. You could just come out you know?”, Sarah Jane really was a pain in the ass sometimes.  
  
  
“Leave Laura alone. She’ll know when or if she wants to tell anyone. It better be soon though Laura, who knows? Maybe you could go with a hot girl to prom, if you’d just tell everyone that you like to snack a little differently than most of us.”, Natalie had this annoying sly smile on her face. _Ugh._  
  
“I don’t need any _hot girls_ as my dates. I’m going alone. I mean, I am the chair of the school committee… I can go alone!”  
  
Her three friends looked at each other, sharing something along the line _‘yeah let her’_.  
  
“Ugh, don’t say anything. I know, how pathetic that sounds.”  
  
Laura wanted to just get that all over with. _Who needed a good prom experience anyway?_  
  
  


***

  
  
  
“Are you going to tell me about the flowers?”, Veronica asked, while giving her stepdaughter a ride home.  
  
“There is nothing to tell. Someone thought they were being super sweet, but in reality they just were super dumb. Whoever did this, didn’t even leave a note.”, Laura looked to the backseat, where most of the roses were placed. She felt really sad for those poor flowers. What a waste for her gay heart...  
  
“I’m sure the cavalier is going to make himself known to you soon.”  
  
“Uh-huh. I wish he wouldn’t.”, the blonde let out under her breath.  
  
“Why? Do you already have a boy to go to the dance with?”  
  
Laura found it utterly weird that Carmilla’s mother, whose daughter was the gayest person she knew, would assume that her stepdaughter was straight. Not that it bothered her though, because she didn’t need Veronica to know. Laura still wasn’t out to her dad and she thought that it wasn’t the time yet. After all she knew, he was a religious man. _Or something._ She actually only had made up excuses in her head for not telling him.  
  
“No, I don’t want to go with anyone. The offers… Aren’t really good this year…” Her stepsister being one of those.  
  
“Really? Honey, you are a gorgeous girl, I can’t imagine that no handsome boy would want to go with you.”  
  
“Yeah well… I’d rather go alone anyways. Less drama.”  
  
The older woman just nodded in acknowledgement, not really understanding why kids these days were so hung up on thinking they were leading hard lives.  
  
  
  
  
“I see you have an admirer there.”, Will sneered, when entering the living room of their house, where Laura was rearranging the flowers.  
  
“Yeah I-”, the blonde turned to face him, “Wait… Please tell me those aren’t from _you_ …”  
  
“You don’t know, who these are from?”, the dark haired guy narrowed his eyes.  
  
“No, but tell me, are they from you...? Do I need to get clearer on this whole non-dating thing?”  
  
Will made an undecipherable face, before smiling (in an almost friendly way), “Listen, I know, you don’t want me the way I want you, and with all of those flowers I just wanted to show you… Uh, well I do want to go to prom with you, but just see it as your _good friend_ , who wants to make sure all the douches stay off your radar…”  
  
Laura didn’t believe those words at all, however she did like this non-douchey Will, even though it seemed like, he was hiding something, “You’d wanna go to prom just as friends? And you promise not to hit on me or make any advances?”  
  
“I promise, just as your… **Older brother**.”  
  
“You know though that you are younger than me, don’t you?”, Laura raised her eyebrows.  
  
“Will you go to prom with me or not?”  
  
“Yeah…”, the blonde couldn’t believe that she really was accepting him as her date, but he was better than showing up with… _Carmilla._ He was Switzerland. He was good, he was the **no feelings zone.**  
  
  
Wait a minute. **Carmilla!** Carmilla was a _no feelings zone too_ , yes. **Totally.**  
  
  
“Hey… What’s going on in here?”, there the devil was. Carmilla was coolly leaning on a wall and looking at her twin and stepsister in anticipation. They were not fighting, which was a rare sight these days in the Karnstein manor.  
  
  
“Guess what sis?”, Will clicked his tongue, which apparently was a Karnstein trait.  
  
“What?”, the brunette asked, trying to come off unaffected, even though she had seen the flowers scattered around in the living room.  
  
“Laura and I are going to prom together.”  
  
Carmilla fixated the blonde with a surprised expression on her face, shoving every little negative feeling inside. Oh no, this hurt like hell. And she couldn’t even show it.  
  
“Just as friends!!!”, Laura felt like explaining, she didn’t understand why though. Carmilla’s dark eyes were boring into her soul.  
  
“Aha.”, the dark haired girl pressed together her lips and pointed behind her with her thumb, “Great for you two, I think, I’m gonna go upstairs. I just lost my appetite for dinner.”  
  
  
“Oh kitty, just because no one has asked you? Come back!”, he fake-whined and grinned.  
  
“Stop being such an asshole, or I’m gonna revoke my offer to go to prom with you.”, Laura said to her stepbrother.  
  
“You didn’t offer, I asked.”  
  
Laura just rolled her eyes and joined their parents in the kitchen to help prepare dinner.  
  
  
  
  
“Should we really not call Carm down?”, Laura asked, being the only one, who hadn’t started eating her food yet.  
  
“I knocked on her door, she said, she didn’t want to eat with us tonight. She’s probably exhausted from school.”, Veronica responded.  
  
The blonde couldn’t help, but feel responsible for whatever Carmilla was feeling at the moment, so she stood up and prepared a plate for her stepsister, to go up and bring it to her.  
  
Both Greg and Veronica eyed the girl suspiciously.  
  
  
  
  
Carmilla was in her room, reading. Like always. There was just nothing that was as captivating as a well written story. And okay, the night sky had similar effects on her too, she would admit that. The vast serenity, the moon living off of the sun’s light. Stars that were too far to touch always in eyesight. Yeah, she could identify herself with the moon.  
  
What she had to witness earlier, had made her stomach flip -not in a good way. How could her own brother do this to her? Well okay, on his defense, he really didn’t know, because simply no one could know… However it had been an asshole move.  
  
  
There was a short knock on her door, followed by a “Can I come in?”. It was the sun herself.  
  
Even though Carmilla didn’t answer, the blonde popped into the room and nervously shifted her weight from one leg to the other, holding up a plate full of food.  
  
“I could have been naked in here.”, the faux nonchalance, and her clearly not looking Laura directly into her eyes made the blonde question everything.  
  
“I brought you food.”  
  
“I can smell that. I told my mother I wasn’t hungry though, so…”, the brunette waved the other girl off.  
  
Laura walked over to Carmilla’s desk and placed the plate there, before averting her gaze to her stepsister, who was lounging on her bed.  
  
  
“What’s up?”  
  
“What are you talking about, creampuff?”  
  
“You’ve been kinda avoiding us all down there. I mean, I get why you are upset, but-”  
  
Laura was cut off, when Carmilla shut her book close with a loud bang. Good thing that the book was a thick hardcover, “Do you now? You get why I am upset? **Really**?”  
  
“Well… Yes, I get it… You and your brother have some weird competition going on about everything and me going to prom with him is really not…”, Laura trailed off, because Carmilla had started to shake her head and had scoffed loudly, “What?”  
  
  
“Why would you go with him anyway, hmn? You don’t even like him that way.”  
  
“He asked.”  
  
“I asked too.”  
  
“Carmilla…”, Laura huffed out a breath, “You are my stepsister.”  
  
“He is your stepbrother.”, the brunette cocked an eyebrow. She had a point there.  
  
“But he asked to go as friends.”  
  
“Yeah, right.”, Carmilla laughed humorlessly.  
  
“I mean, he did this sweet thing with the flowers that he got me, and Will is never sweet and maybe you are right, but-”  
  
“He did what?! Is that what he told you?!”, the dark haired girl interjected, her facial expression had changed into anger.  
  
“What?”  
  
Carmilla exhaled deeply, “I’m sorry, but I thought I just heard you say, he got you all those flowers.”  
  
“He told me he did.”, Laura didn’t understand, why the brunette was fixating on that.  
  
“Of course that asshole would. He is a fuckboy, Laura. He just wants to get you into his bed. He’s always wanted it.”  
  
“Like you?”, the blonde asked bluntly. **Wow.** That. Was. **Not** the right thing to say.  
  
“What?”, incredulousness was all Carmilla could convey in that moment, “Is that what you think?!”  
  
“Isn’t it true? You find out that I’m gay and immediately the first thing you do is making a move on me? Really? What else should I think?”, Laura had a challenging look to her.  
  
Carmilla wanted to kiss that girl and smack her at the same time. So many feelings.  
  
“You are making this so hard…”, the brunette stood up from her bed, seeing Laura stiffen again, she didn’t want a replay of the events some days ago, so she refrained from approaching her dream girl. However she needed to be on the same level to say those words.  
  
  
  
“The flowers my brother allegedly got you are from _me_. Him being a dick and lying about it makes him anything but sweet…”,  Carmilla cleared her throat, “And you not grasping that _I’ve been into you this whole fucking time_ , makes you a hell of an oblivious girl!!!”


	8. Jealousy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “You look so damn fine in your tanktop, creampuff...”

“And you not grasping that I’ve been into you this whole fucking time, makes you a hell of an oblivious girl!!!”  
  
Laura’s face fell, her jaw dropped.  
  
“What…?”  
  
Carmilla could have smacked herself. She closed her eyes, to recompose herself and drew in a deep breath.  
  
“But it doesn’t matter, because you don’t like me the same way and I get it… I just really needed that last shove in the right direction and you going with _my brother_ really was the cherry on top…”, the dark haired girl chuckled, “I’m such a fucking moron.”  
  
“Carmilla…”, Laura couldn’t say anything productive to that revelation.  
  
Carmilla _freaking_ Karnstein had been into her. This whole time. What did that even mean?  
  
  
  
“Since when?”  
  
“Since when, **what**?”  
  
“For how long have you felt like _this_?”, the blonde paraphrased.  
  
“I thought you were hot for a while, but this dumb crush started last year.”  
  
“You’ve been into me for **a whole year**?!”  
  
“Yeah…”, suddenly Carmilla felt small.  
  
“But… Why haven’t you said anything?”  
  
“Because you were with senior douche and I thought you were straight.”  
  
“ **Oh.** ”, this actually made sense to Laura.  
  
  
  
“Yeah, _oh_.”, Carmilla shook her head, grabbing her car keys and her leather jacket, “Now excuse me, I just remembered, I have to be anywhere but here.”  
  
“But-”, Laura turned around, seeing, how the brunette stopped for her to say something that might stop her, “I can’t, you know _I can’t_ …”  
  
Carmilla gave her a forced, pained smile, “I know, because you don’t feel that way. Got it.”, and gone she was.  
  
Laura huffed out a breath.  
  
_Worst. Day. Ever._  
  
  
  


***

  
  
  
“Laura.”, Danny approached her friend, who seemed to ignore her, “Are you really not gonna talk to me anymore?”  
  
The blonde shut her locker close and regarded the redhead with eye-contact, “I’m sorry, what?”  
  
“She talks to me… Yay.”  
  
Laura frowned, “Hmn?”  
  
“Well, you’ve been ignoring me since… _You know_ …”  
  
“Since you insulted me?”  
  
“Well… I really didn’t mean it that way, I swear!”  
  
“Yeah well… We all say things we don’t mean sometimes…”, Laura stared off into distance.  
  
The talk with Carmilla two nights ago still hadn’t given her any peace. She was drawn back and forth. It was important to her that the brunette didn’t despise her for ‘rejecting’ her. Carmilla hadn’t talked to the blonde since then. Actually Laura hadn’t even seen her in the last 30 hours or so.  
  
“Are you okay, Hollis?”, Danny wanted to know with concern evident in her voice.  
  
“Sure, great! Peachy as always. Perfect.”, too much, Hollis.  
  
“Ah… So I actually wanted to know, if you wanted to ride to prom with us in our limo. Like last year…”  
  
“Yeah that’s nice of you to ask. Actually… Will is coming too.”  
  
Danny frowned, “Will, as in _the Will_? Are you going to prom with him?”  
  
“As in my escort to the dance, yes.”  
  
“I thought you were-”, before the tall girl could say anything offensive again, she tried to be gentle and civil, “… What about his sister? Does she need a ride too? We have three spots open in our limo. Sarah Jane is riding with her date.”  
  
“SJ has a date? How cool.”, Laura laughed nervously.  
  
“What about El- _Carmilla_ now? Do you think she wants to ride with us? She can even bring her date.”  
  
“I am gonna ask her, totes, yes!”  
  
“Cool.”, Danny waited a second, before asking what was nagging her, “Are we good? Because I don’t wanna fight with you.”  
  
Laura smiled, “Yeah we are, I kinda missed you.”  
  
“I know, me too! I’m so sorry for what I said to you.”  
  
“It’s okay, Dan. Really…”  
  
  
  


***

  
  
  
When Laura got into her house, her stepmother was already waiting.  
  
“Dear, do you know, where Carmilla is?”, Veronica wanted to know. She seemed upset.  
  
“No, what happened?”, the blonde frowned.  
  
“She didn’t come home after school and well… I like to know where my daughter is, if she is not gonna be home for dinner or at least here _to not grace us with her presence at the dinner table_ … God.”  
  
“Honey, just calm down, I’m sure, she’s fine.”, Greg was in the picture now.  
  
“Have you tried calling her?”, Laura asked, both of the adults nodded. The blonde felt her heart sink to her stomach. What if something had happened to her stepsister?  
  
  
Just in that moment the headlights of a car blinded the blonde, who immediately ran back to the front door, to see, if it was her stepsister.  
  
  
It was Carmilla.  
  
  
The brunette walked past her stepsister, when entering the house, never acknowledging her and directly aimed to ascend the stairs, but was held back.  
  
  
“Where have you been, Carmilla?”, Veronica asked.  
  
“I was out getting some fresh air.”  
  
“What does _out_ mean?”, the older woman wanted to know.  
  
“I drove to the woods, just in the outskirts of town, jeez.”  
  
“Carmilla, your mother was worried for you.”, Greg threw in.  
  
“Sorry.”, the dark haired girl shrugged and continued to ascend the steps.  
  
  
  
“Are you gonna let her get away with this?!”, Laura asked, clearly surprised.  
  
“Well sometimes when she doesn’t feel good, she does that.”, Veronica explained.  
  
  
  
Laura didn’t answer her stepmother and hurried up the stairs and bursted straight into the brunette’s room- which was the worst idea she could have, because Carmilla was naked. Totally naked- well, as in shirt-less and bra-less naked. At least her back was turned to Laura.  
  
  
“God, ever heard of knocking?!”, the dark haired girl asked and pulled a shirt over her head.  
  
“I…”, the blonde’s eyes were wide. She definitely hadn’t expected _that_ , when entering the room. Yep, knocking would have been a great idea. Did Carmilla always have that super flawless body?  
  
  
“What did you want?”  
  
Laura apparently had found her tongue again, “I just wanted to tell you that your mom was super worried and that it wasn’t nice of you not to call, ya know?”  
  
“Got it, anything else?”  
  
“Uhm… You got me worried too.”  
  
“You just came home, creampuff. Don’t think I don’t know your schedule. You didn’t even have time to worry about me, besides…”, Carmilla trailed off and came to a halt in front of her desk, eying her phone. She still hadn’t dared to face the sun, because her light would probably blind her.  
  
  
“Besides?”  
  
Carmilla finally turned around, “From where do you think _you_ get the right to worry about _me_?”  
  
Well that was… _Harsh._  
  
“Because you are-”  
  
“Your sister, right? And Laura is such a family person.”, the brunette finished the sentence with a scoff.  
  
“Why are you being such a monumental asshole to me?”  
  
The dark haired girl really had the audacity to laugh at this, “Are you being serious now?”  
  
“Is it because I rejected you?”  
  
  
Carmilla met Laura’s eyes and never had that brown been this cold. The brunette wasn’t smirking nonchalantly anymore. She was clearly hurt.  
  
  
The weird thing was that Laura wanted to run to her, wrap her up in her arms and tell her that she didn’t mean it.  
That she didn’t mean to be cruel, that she’d rather go to prom with her than-  
  
Laura gulped visibly, the brunette turned her eyes away from her stepsister to her phone.  
  
  
“Close the door, behind you, when you get out, will you?”, Carmilla asked of the blonde, and Laura did nothing but comply.  
  
  
 _What had just happened?_  
  
  


***

  
  
Carmilla scanned the room she was standing in, smirking, when she found the person, she had been looking for.  
  
“Come on, mad scientist. This is your chance now.”, the brunette cocked an eyebrow, meeting her best friend’s gaze. LaF seemed a little terrified.  
  
“What if she doesn’t like me?”  
  
“Nonsense. You just have to present yourself well. Come on, you got this! I told you what to say.”, she shoved them in the direction of where Curly Sue was listening to her music and eating lunch.  
  
  
Suddenly Elsie popped up beside her, “What is LaFontaine doing there?”  
  
Carmilla looked to her right, “Getting themselves a date for prom… Speaking of which…”, the brunette eyed the girl beside her, “Wanna go to prom with me?”  
  
The blonde scoffed, “Your jokes aren’t funny.”  
  
“I’m not joking cupcake.”  
  
Elsie tilted her head, “Oh really? Your dream girl said no to you?”  
  
The brunette exhaled deeply, “Let’s not talk about _that_.”  
  
“Are you being serious now?”  
  
“Deadly serious. I want to go to prom with _you_.”  
  
  
“Great, pick me up at 7 and get me a corsage.”, Elsie acted unaffected, and to affirm that, she waved the girl beside her off.  
  
Carmilla smiled, this was the first time she felt like smiling, “I will be there cupcake.”  
  
They shared a lingering look, before Carmilla averted her gaze to the far back, where two redheads were talking. LaFontaine didn’t look like they would faint soon, so _that_ was a total win. Plus also, they both were laughing about something, so double win.  
  
“Seems like my services aren’t needed here anymore…”, the dark haired girl wanted to walk away, but Elsie held her back.  
  
“Do you have off now?”, the blonde asked. Her voice was a little deeper than usual.  
  
“Yeah… Why?”, Carmilla already knew, why.  
  
“How about we spend it in your car? Away from watching eyes?”  
  
“I think, you have the most magnificent ideas, cupcake.”  
  
  
  
Meanwhile some tables across the hall Laura Hollis had eyed the interaction. She felt sick. Carmilla and Elsie left the dining hall together, sharing those super gross looks. _Ugh_. Not that it bothered her- not at all. Laura had made it perfectly clear that she was not interested in Carmilla.  
  
 _Not at all._  
  
  
“Are you excited for prom?”, SJ asked the blonde.  
  
“Totally.”, Laura rolled her eyes.  
  
All of her friends shared a strange look. No one commented though.  
  
  


***

  
  
There were boundaries to certain things. Like for instance, having people over, while their parents were sleeping just some doors away was something Laura would never dare to do. And now the blonde was lying awake in her room, listening to Carmilla moan out curse words.  
  
However what bugged her was the fact that she didn’t feel appalled by that particular thing, no she was feeling jealous that it wasn’t because of her-  
  
Laura sat up in her bed.  
  
  
 **_No. No. No. No. No. No._ **  
  
  
Carmilla was getting into her mind. That stupid smirk was making itself present in her head. That amazingly attractive, stupid smug smirk. _Ohmigod._  
  
  
This couldn’t be happening.  
  
She was not into Carmilla Karnstein!  
  
Why was this bugging her so much though?  
  
She thought back to a few hours ago at school…  
  
  
//  
  
  
“Els…”, Laura approached her friend, who was busy listening to music on her phone.  
  
“Hey, Laura! Haven’t seen you lately! You are so busy with prom... Why don’t you come hang out in the quad with us sometime after all of this is over?”  
  
“Yeah… I will… Can I ask you something?”, the blonde sat down beside the other girl.  
  
  
“Sure, what’s up?”  
  
“What’s up with you and Carmilla?”, when Elsie shot her a questioning look, she explained herself, “I saw you two in lunch break… You two seemed to _hit it off_ …”  
  
“Yeah… We… You know how she is…”  
  
Laura quirked up an eyebrow, “What do you mean?”  
  
“Ah, well… The broodiness and all… She didn’t say _what_ we are, but…”, Elsie shrugged and laughed a little, “God I’m so into her that’s not normal anymore… You must think I’m crazy.”  
  
The other girl nervously joined in on the laughter, “Hehe… Yeah… _Crazy_ …”  
  
“Why do you ask?”  
  
“No reason… Just wanted to know what your deal was…”  
  
“Well… Carmilla asked me to prom… And we might have a chance to get together you know… Even though there is or _was_ a little obstacle…”  
  
Laura frowned, “Obstacle?”  
  
“Oh, right. I forgot, you didn’t know… Just don’t tell Carmilla I told you, but she said something about having interest in someone else… But seeing her asking me to prom… I guess she got rejected by whoever… So I’m the lucky girl now.”  
  
Laura wanted to throw up in that moment. Carmilla was being dead serious with the crush-thing. Every little doubt there had been vanished after Elsie had said it out loud. God, Carmilla had even told Elsie about it. And now Laura had blown everything. Carmilla Karnstein -probably the hottest girl in Silas High- had given up on her. Why was it so hard for her to accept? She didn’t like Carmilla that way anyway, right? She never had. **Ew** , they were stepsisters!  
  
  
“So you two are going to prom now together…”  
  
“Yeah… In fact, you and I might see each other later, I will be coming over to dinner tonight.”  
  
“You are, huh?”  
  
  
//  
  
  
Laura threw the blanket off herself and yanked her bedroom door open, standing in front of Carmilla’s door, she hesitated. There were no sounds to be heard anymore. _Weird_.  
She could have sworn that the brunette was busy fucking her friend in her bedroom.  
  
  
The blonde knocked.  
  
 _Once._  
  
 _Twice._  
  
Carmilla suddenly was standing there with sweat covering her forehead. She smirked.  
  
  
“Creampuff, what do you want so late at night?”  
  
“Can you and Elsie please keep it down? Some people would like to get some rest.”  
  
“The cupcake isn’t here.”, the dark haired girl replied.  
  
“What? I heard…”, Carmilla got out of the way to show the blonde that there really was absolutely no one in her bedroom, which ultimately meant…  
  
  
“What have you been doing there then?”, Laura wanted to know.  
  
“Wouldn’t you like to know?”, the brunette asked with one risen eyebrow. Even in this sweaty state she seemed so freaking gorgeous.  
  
“You should go to sleep.”, Laura suggested.  
  
“I’d much rather do other things…”, Carmilla reached out her hand and slowly dragged it over her stepsister’s bare arm.  
  
The agonizingly slow paced touches made Laura’s knees go weak. She found herself walking towards Carmilla, whose facial expression changed into the one of surprise, when Laura’s body met hers.  
  
The dark haired girl was backed up against the wall beside her door, which was closed shut with a little thud. What was Laura doing? This was her chance to claim Carmilla as hers.  
This was the last night before prom. She would only have to say yes to her stepsister…  
  
  
“You look so damn fine in your tanktop, creampuff… And that bed-hair… Is making you look so fucking sexy.”, Carmilla whispered into the dark room.  
  
“Shut up.”, was all the blonde said in return, before leaning in-  
  
Laura heard her alarm clock go off…  
  
  
  
The blonde knit together her brows, before opening her eyes. She was facing her windows, her room was fairly dark still, but it was 6:45, as her clock indicated her. The blonde was suddenly sitting up in her bed.  
  
She had been dreaming all of that. She had been dreaming about wanting to kiss Carmilla. (And do other things.)  
  
 _Ohmigod._  
  
This wasn’t allowed to happen.  
  
She did not have a crush on Carmilla Karnstein.  
  
It was Friday, so it was the day of prom. Prom with Will.  
  
  
  
Laura got up and sauntered to her bathroom, where already another blonde was looking her face over in the mirror.  
  
“Good morning!”, Elsie let out all chipper.  
  
The other girl stopped in her tracks, her eyes were trained on the brunette, who was getting dressed in her room in the background.  
 _Hello?_ Could she not have closed the door? Some people were recovering from nearly-sex-dreams with hot stepsisters.  
  
 _Ohmigod._  
  
“Is everything alright? You don’t mind me using your mouth wash, do you?”, Elsie asked and pointed to the blue liquid resting beside the sink.  
  
“What? No, totes, go for it! You wouldn’t wanna miss out on making out with Carm-”, just in that moment the dark haired girl entered the bathroom with wide eyes, “Carmilla! There she is, you two uhm stay here, I’m gonna go to Will’s bathroom!”  
  
  
  
Which was the worst idea ever.  
  
When Laura entered her stepbrother’s bathroom, he apparently had the same idea. His gaze was locked on her-  
  
“Will, my eyes are up here.”  
  
The dark haired guy held up his hands, “Just checking if everything’s in the right place. You are my date, you gotta look hot tonight.”  
  
“Uh-huh. Why did I say yes to you again?”  
  
“Because I’m the best looking one of all the people, who have asked you.”  
  
“I wouldn’t say _that_.”, Laura wanted to bite off her tongue. She totally didn’t mean Carmilla, of course.  
  
“Really? Any other hot guys wanted to go with you?”  
  
“Are you calling yourself hot?”, Laura frowned.  
  
Will winked and made room for his stepsister, “The bathroom is all yours. Although… I don’t like it, when my conquests use my toothbrush, so you might wanna bring your own.”  
  
“I’m not your… **Ugh, ew**.”, the blonde groaned.  
  
  
  
  
After all of the struggles were sorted out, Laura finally joined the family at the breakfast table. Carmilla was sitting across her -unaffected as ever.  
  
  
“Where’s _your guest_?”, Laura asked with the sweetest of smiles in direction of the brunette.  
  
“She needed to go home. My mom offered her to stay for breakfast, but she declined, thank you creampuff for worrying about _your friend_.”, Carmilla said monotonously.  
  
“Is this really okay?!”, Laura asked Veronica, who had been quiet the whole time.  
  
“What? I didn’t get the problem here.”, the parent asked, while looking to her daughter and stepdaughter.  
  
“She’s allowed to have her _fuck-buddies_ around?”  
  
“ **Laura**!”, Greg was surprised by his daughter’s bluntness.  
  
“Well, uhm…”, Veronica looked at her husband, who shrugged, “Carmilla is allowed to have company, when it’s not a school night and you all have off today because of prom, so… I don’t see any problem here.”  
  
  
“Somebody is just jealous.”, Carmilla chuckled.  
  
“I’m **not** jealous of Elsie.”, Laura narrowed her eyes at the dark haired girl.  
  
Her stepsister frowned, “I didn’t mean Elsie. I meant you being jealous of me, because I am enjoying myself.”  
  
“Yeah? Last night it didn’t sound like only _yourself_ in your bedroom.”  
  
  
Now **that** sounded like jealousy.  
  
  
“Okay, enough you two! This is not something I want to hear during breakfast.”, Veronica brought a halt to the little argument or whatever was going on there.  
  
  
“I just lost my appetite, excuse me.”, the blonde hurried away and up the stairs.  
  
  
  
Carmilla had eyed her stepsister’s behavior suspiciously.  
  
This couldn’t be it. _No, no,_ Laura was not jealous of Elsie, was she? 


	9. A Dance Under The Stars

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “God, why do I even try to justify myself?”

Carmilla was standing in front of her bathroom mirror and fixing her hair. She had used a curling iron and now her hair looked flawless.  
_A little too flawless_. This didn’t look right anymore. She drove a hand through her mane.  
  
_There. Much better._  
  
  
“Oh, I didn’t know that the bathroom was occupied.”, Laura walked in and fixed her make up by the other mirror above the sink.  
  
The brunette eyed her stepsister. She was wearing a greenish-blue floor-length gown with golden elements. She looked like a Trojan princess or whatever- not that Carmilla had any idea of how they are supposed to look like, but she pictured that not at all daring dress to be exactly that.  
  
“Did you need a ride to prom?”, Laura asked the other girl, who didn’t understand, where the sudden politeness came from. Some hours ago she was up in her space with all her accusations and assumptions (not that those had been assumptions- she really had been doing unholy things with Elsie the night before) and now she was playing the sweet sister? _Ugh._ That term still made her cringe.  
  
  
“No, I am picking up Elsie and some friends with my car.”  
  
“So no spiked punch for you today.”, the blonde joked.  
  
“You got it.”, the dark haired girl answered curtly and averted her gaze to herself in the mirror again. She looked dapper.  
  
  
“Are you really gonna wear a leather jacket over that shirt?”, Laura wanted to know. She had turned to face her stepsister now. (Totally not trying **not to** drool.)  
  
Carmilla shrugged, “There is no specific dress code and I chose the nicer one of the two I own…”  
  
“I mean… It looks nice… _You_ look nice…”, the brunette cast Laura a surprised expression, “You could probably wear _whatever_ and it would look nice.”  
  
“Why thank you, creampuff. You are looking good yourself. Will is a lucky dude.”, the last sentence was a little hard to speak out loud, but she managed.  
  
“Yeah… You look great… Like I already said… Uh, I’m sure Elsie will be all over you tonight.”, Laura didn’t know, why she said _that_.  
  
  
There was a knock on Laura’s door, which could be heard in the bathroom.  
  
“Laura, your friends are here. We gotta jet.”, it was Will.  
  
“Just a second!”, the blonde hollered, before indulging into a moment of silence between her and Carmilla.  
  
  
Laura didn’t want to go to prom. She wanted to stay at home, stay right where she was, just stay there with her stepsister, looking at her. All this time she had been in reach and now she was unreachable. Sometimes the moon turned on the sun and left it hanging. How had the tables turned so quickly?  
  
  
“You should go, creampuff. Your knight in shining armor is waiting for you.”, the brunette turned around and vanished into her own bedroom.  
  
“Right, right…”, the blonde nodded, even though Carmilla wasn’t there anymore to see it.  
  
  
  
  
“It’s really nice that you two are going as brother and sister.”, Veronica was taking pictures of the kids with her cell phone.  
  
“Now let’s take a picture of all the friends together!”, Greg gestured for Danny and Natalie to get into the frame too. Their dates were waiting in the limo.  
  
  
Just in that moment Carmilla was descending the stairs.  
  
  
“Oh honey!!! Come on, get in the picture! I wanted one with you and your date, but it’s a shame that you are picking her up at her house!”  
  
Carmilla shook her head, “Errr… No, I don’t want to-”  
  
“Get in the picture, Carmilla.”, Veronica ordered with a demanding look.  
  
_Jeez_.  
  
The dark haired girl did as she was told, she faked a smile and Veronica took a few shots of them all together. Carmilla had the luck to be beside Natalie. Everyone was better than the ginger giant. _Almost_ everyone… She didn’t want to be next to Will either… Or Laura. Okay, standing beside Natalie probably was the best thing happening to her.  
  
  
“I want one with the three kids together!”, Greg exclaimed.  
  
Carmilla groaned, “I’m gonna be late.” _And I don’t wanna stand next to my brother, I might wanna punch him._  
  
“Two more minutes!”, Veronica replied and quirked her eyebrows, so Carmilla moved over to where Will and Laura were standing side by side.  
  
Greg smiled fondly of the children, “Yes, one with William in the middle… You all look perfect together.”  
  
“Say cheese!”, the mother exclaimed, before she took a close look at the picture, “Oh, just one more with only the girls!”  
  
  
Laura and Carmilla shared a look.  
  
“You two, **get together**!”, Veronica gestured Will to get out of the picture, he just raised his hands and got behind his mother, looking over her shoulder.  
  
The blonde moved towards Carmilla, who stiffened at Laura’s arm touching hers. Even though there was a leather jacket to separate their body parts, it sent a tingling sensation through her body. She’d never been that close to her, even though they had been spending a lot of time together lately.  
  
“Perfect. You two look beautiful!”, Veronica smiled and reached out her arms to hug her stepdaughter and then her daughter.  
  
  
“I’m gonna get going now…”, Carmilla said weakly and made her way out of the room.  
  
“See you later, kitty!”, Will sneered and got a glare in return.  
  
“See you, Carmilla.”, Laura called after her stepsister, who didn’t even bother to look in her direction.  
  
When had that become a thing? Weren’t they friends just a week ago? Laura felt sick, she wanted to stay home, but the president of the school committee wasn’t allowed to stay home.  
  
  
“Well, you girls all have fun and William? Bring my daughter back unscathed yeah?”, Greg laughed.  
  
The principal of Silas High was butting in now, “We will see each other in a bit. Greg and I are driving there soon too.”  
  
“Of course… And yes we’ll see ya.”, the dark haired guy waved off his mother.  
  
  
  
  
“You guys have a gorgeous house.”, Natalie commented, when all of them were seated in the limo.  
  
“Thanks, it was my grandparents’.”, Will explained.  
  
“Oh, where are they now?”  
  
“In a better place.”, the guy exhaled deeply.  
  
“I’m sorry dude.”, Kirsch smiled weakly.  
  
Will shook his head, “No, they aren’t dead. They live in San Antonio now.”  
  
The car was filled with some _‘Ohhh’s._  
  
  
The whole drive to the venue Laura spent with thinking about how it would have been, if she had said ‘yes’ to Carmilla. The blonde questioned herself now. Why was she so obsessed with Carmilla? Just because she knew that a hot girl was after her, she wanted her now too? Wasn’t that making her a sort of a hypocrite?  
  
  
“What are you thinking about?”, Will wanted to know, when he noticed Laura’s off behavior. Not that she wasn’t always off to him, but still she was very quiet for her usual self.  
  
“Oh nothing, I’m just nervous. I mean, I kind of organized this whole thing and hope everything goes smoothly.”  
  
Danny waved her off, “Hollis, stop worrying so much, you surely did a great job.”  
  
“Yeah, what I saw, when passing the gym yesterday was beyond magnificent.”, Natalie joined in.  
  
“Totally. The stars dude! How did you come up with that?”, Kirsch asked very interested in the matter.  
  
“I didn’t. I had some help from Carm.”, Laura smiled fondly of her stepsister.  
  
  
She scolded herself mentally for doing that. Since when did Carmilla bring a smile up her face?  
  
  
  


***

  
  
Carmilla was standing outside of Elsie’s house and waiting for the blonde to open. When she finally did, the brunette’s jaw almost fell to the floor beneath her.  
There Elsie stood with her short black dress, ready to go to prom.  
  
  
“Wow, cupcake you sure as hell do look fine.”  
  
Elsie chuckled, “Oh well and you look very punk chic-y.”  
  
“Ready to go?”, the dark haired girl held out her hand and Elsie eyed it for some seconds.  
  
“What? Didn’t you bring me a corsage, like I told you?”  
  
“I did.”, Carmilla opened her zipper to her jacket’s pocket and got out a self-made one with a single white rose and some other weed that she found would be fitting to it.  
  
“Hmmn, it looks beautiful. Did you make that on your own?”  
  
“Yes. I like to give away things with meaning to them.”, Carmilla said and put in on Elsie’s left wrist.  
  
“What does the white rose mean? I mean you do know one thing or two about stuff like this right?”  
  
Carmilla just smiled and cocked up an eyebrow. “We should get going. LaF’s waiting for us.”  
  
“Right.”  
  
  
Way to dodge the question. If Carmilla were to answer her date honestly (which she always was), she would have to tell her that it meant platonic admiration or that it could mean the end of something.  
  
  
  
  
“Is that really her house?”, Carmilla asked the redhead in her backseat.  
  
“Yeah, Perry told me this address…”  
  
“Wow, Curly Sue is rich. Wouldn’t have thought so.”, the brunette smirked and looked at the big three storied house they were waiting at.  
  
“Carmilla could you please be nice and not make weird comments about crushes or anything?”, LaF asked of their friend.  
  
“Sure thing, Gingersnap. Wouldn’t wanna ruin your date that I helped you to get.”  
  
“Heey! I could have asked her to prom without you interfering…”  
  
“Really? I think Carm here helped you a lot.”, Elsie threw in.  
  
Carmilla huffed out a breath, “Don’t call me _that_.”  
  
“Why is Laura allowed to call you Carm then?”, the blonde asked, but Carmilla fortunately didn’t have to answer, because Perry was walking out of her house just in that moment.  
  
  
“Hey, LaF, go get out of the fucking car, don’t just sit there!”, Carmilla ordered her friend, who complied.  
  
  
  


***

  
  
“Oh my god this looks so great!”, Natalie gaped, while entering the venue (= their gym) of _A Dance Under The Stars._  
  
“Ya think?”, Laura asked insecurely.  
  
“It really is something.”, Danny nodded approvingly, “Hollis, you and Elvira have done a great job.”  
  
“Elvira?”, Will asked.  
  
“Your sister.”, the tall girl explained.  
  
Will started laughing, “Oh my god, now **that** is golden.”  
  
Laura only rolled her eyes and got to her table. (As the head of the school committee, she had picked out hers weeks ago.)  
  
“You guys can sit, I’m gonna be back in a mo’.”  
  
  
  
Carmilla walked in to the gym with Elsie, who dragged her to where a photographer was taking pictures of couples. The brunette refused to pose for him though and humored Elsie with telling her that she would take some selfies with her later on. That seemed to do the trick.  
  
“Would you wanna sit with the cheerleaders?”, the blonde asked her date, who vigorously shook her head.  
  
“Hell no!”  
  
“I thought so… What about Laura’s table? You guys like each other more now, right?”  
  
The dark haired girl wanted to answer with a _‘Hell no!’_ again, but was already dragged to where beanstalk and co. were sitting at a round table.  
  
  
  
“Hey guys, can we join you?”, Elsie asked and got a nod from almost everyone.  
  
“Uh, sure thing! You can sit here”, Natalie pointed to the seats beside her, “Those two…”, she gestured to two other vacant spots beside Danny and Kirsch, “Are already occupied by Will and Laura.”  
  
Carmilla looked across from where she was sitting to the vacant spot. Of course Laura would be sitting in her eye-sight the whole night. Could prom be any better? Well actually that wasn’t even cynical thinking. She couldn’t picture any better view, but seeing Laura with her brother? _Not cool._  
  
  
“Where’s the asshat anyway?”, the brunette asked.  
  
“Spiking the punch or something.”, Natalie’s boyfriend answered this time.  
  
  
“Sooo… Carmilla… You guys have a cool house.”, Natalie started conversation again, when no one else seemed to bother with pleasantries.  
  
“Thank my mother.”  
  
“Principal Karnstein seems to be a cool mom too.”, Kirsch laughed in his goofy way, when Danny had said that. He found the principal hot- which monumental **ew**.  
  
“It’s Hollis now… Right?”, Natalie asked.  
  
“Karnstein-Hollis.”, a voice from behind startled both Natalie and Carmilla. It was Laura, who was now joining in on her friends, “Ohh… Carm, you’re sitting with us?” She had a hard time hiding the fact that her heart had picked up pace, when she had seen the dark haired girl at her table.  
  
“Is that okay?”, the brunette asked in return, “I’m sure we could also sit with my friend LaF-”  
  
“No, no, please stay.”, Laura came off too eager, “I mean, it would be hard to find anyone in this crazy crowd now.”  
  
  
There was a moment of silence, before Danny picked up the speaking part again.  
  
  
“So, Laura… Tell us, why you brought Will as your date? You…”, just in that moment the redhead realized that Carmilla and Elsie were listening in -not knowing that the brunette already knew of Laura’s sexuality, “I um, thought you didn’t like _him_ that way?”  
  
“Will’s a great bro though. I’m sure, angry hottie over there can confirm that.”  
  
Everyone looked at Carmilla in anticipation now.  
  
“He’s an asshole.”  
  
Natalie laughed out loud, “Sibling rivalry?”  
  
Carmilla fixated Laura with her gaze, “You could say that.”  
  
  
“It’s such a shame that SJ is sitting with the football douches…”, Danny commented.  
  
“Hey! Football is awesome.”, Kirsch pouted.  
  
  
“Are you talking about football already, dude? You are going to scare away all the girls.”, Will chuckled, when seating himself beside his date and placing a cup with punch in front of Laura, who thanked him and took a sip. (She had made a weird face, while doing that.)  
  
“Woah there, this is vodka spiked with punch it seems.”, the blonde squirmed a little.  
  
“We are here to have some fun, aren’t we?”, Will winked and finally noticed his sister sitting across him.  
  
“It’s been always only fun and games to you, huh?”, Carmilla asked her twin, who frowned. _Good actor._  
  
“Why, kitty what’s got you all gloomy?”  
  
  
Carmilla stood up, not wanting to deal with her brother, “Cupcake, did you want to look for your cheerleader friends?”, she asked Elsie.  
  
“Oh… Sure.”  
  
  
“You could try to be nicer to her, you know?”, Laura said to Will, who only waved her off.  
  
“That’s our thing. She’s always an asshole.”  
  
The blonde shrugged and her facial expression said anything but ‘amused’, “You are actually the only one on this table.”  
  
 _Ouch._  
  
  
  
  
  
“… So then Carmilla is like ‘Gingersnap! You gotta get the fire extinguisher or the whole place is gonna blow up on us!’ and totally panicking!”, LaFontaine was animatedly telling their date about how they once set the school on fire.  
  
“That sounds like such a blast -and yes the choice of words was intended! Too bad I’m not in science classes. You two sure seem like fun.”, Perry laughed.  
  
“Oh no, I am terrible in science. I just took it, because I couldn’t be without LaF. They are great.”, Carmilla winked in her friend’s direction, who clearly blushed. Their face color matched their hair.  
  
Oh yes, the dark haired girl was such a good wing-woman.  
  
  
“Would you like to dance?”, LaFontaine held out their hand and Perry took it without hesitation.  
  
“Sure, I would love to.”, the curly redhead responded and got up.  
  
  
“They are cute, aren’t they?”, Elsie asked, while resting her head on Carmilla’s shoulder, after the pair had made their way onto the dance floor.  
  
“Yeah they are.”, the brunette smiled and leaned her head on the blonde’s.  
  
  
  
Laura felt miserable. Seeing Carmilla with Elsie made her feel so many things. Usually she would have found some excuse and told herself that it was a disdain for their weird relationship (because Carmilla had slept with someone, who had a boyfriend), but she didn’t even see the negative things about the pair. She just saw Carmilla.  
  
Carmilla, who had bought up every single remaining rose at Silas for her, Carmilla who came up with the idea of the “stars” on the ceiling. Carmilla, who seemed like such a romantic sap.  
God, what the hell was she thinking? Carmilla was her stepsister and not any positive thought about her could make that fact go away. It was unethical and distasteful.  
Even though they weren’t even remotely blood-related, it was weird to think about a stepsister that way, right?  
  
  
 _Right._  
  
  
However when Carmilla got up and the coast was clear, Laura made her way to sit beside Elsie, to keep her a little company and to find out what they were.  
  
(Just for research purposes of course.)  
  
  
“Laura, everything has just turned out perfect. You did a great job.”, Elsie complimented the other girl.  
  
“Thanks, but you gotta thank _your girlfriend_ too. Without her all of this wouldn’t have been possible.”  
  
“Carmilla really is **not** my girlfriend.”  
  
Laura felt better, when Elsie cleared that up.  
  
“So what were you guys doing here? I thought you wanted to sit with us?”, Laura asked.  
  
“Yeah well… LaFontaine and Perry would be totally alone, and Carmilla kind of helped them to get together, so she wants to prevent LaF from saying something wrong.”, the blonde was looking at Elsie in bewilderment, “You’ve probably seen LaF with Carmilla… The short haired science nerd who is here with the curly one? Lola Perry?”  
  
“Ah yes. I have seen them both once or twice during lunch.”, Laura remembered -even though vaguely, “She set them both up?”  
  
“Yeah. Carmilla is great isn’t she?”, Elsie dreamily said.  
  
“Mhm.”, Laura’s eyes fell to the blonde’s left hand, where a white flower sat neatly. Will hadn’t even bothered to get her a corsage, “Carmilla got you a corsage?”  
  
“She even made it for me. She is so talented.”  
  
 _Ohmigod._ Laura swooned over something a girl did for another girl. She was in deep.  
  
And she didn’t even know how so. Just some days ago she hadn’t even considered that.  
  
However then… Carmilla did all those sweet things and then retreated, when she got rejected.  
  
  
“Oh fuck no!!!”, Elsie exclaimed and interrupted Laura’s thought-process.  
  
The blonde followed the other girl’s wide eyes to where Carmilla was talking to someone. At first the Hollis girl didn’t get who that was, but when Elsie stood up and rushed to her date, Laura could only follow.  
  
  
  
“… So what then? You’ve been fucking her behind my back?”, it was James. Elsie’s ex-boyfriend.  
  
“I told you I didn’t know-”, Carmilla was interrupted by her date.  
  
“James, what the fuck are you doing here?!”  
  
“I see you already found a new toy. Are you seriously a lesbian now? You can’t humiliate me like that!”, the football player caught attention.  
  
“Listen-”, Carmilla wanted to speak, but Laura grabbed  her hand and dragged her away from the scene.  
  
“Leave them both alone, Elsie needs to sort it out with him.”, the blonde took Carmilla to a secluded area outside of the gym.  
  
  
  
“What were you two talking about?”, Laura asked, once they both were fairly alone and Carmilla had calmed down a bit.  
  
“About me going behind his back with Elsie.”  
  
The blonde nodded hesitantly, “You gotta admit though that it wasn’t cool of you to do that.”  
  
“She didn’t tell me. Fuck, I should be there and defend myself or something…”, Carmilla exhaled deeply.  
  
“What are you talking about?”, Laura frowned.  
  
“The day you caught us in my room and let slip his name was the first time I learned of his existence. Bummer, huh? I don’t fuck anyone who is committed to someone else.”  
  
“What? You can’t be serious! You sure have seen them together some time?”  
  
“I am serious, and no, I haven’t seen them, but whatever, it’s not like you are gonna believe me anyway, right?”, Carmilla met Laura’s gaze, “God, why do I even try to justify myself?”  
  
“Because I need justification. I need people to go through things step by step. I want to understand everything. It’s in my nature.”, Laura didn’t know, if she was explaining herself to Carmilla or to herself.  
  
  
“And? What did you pick up from the things I just told you?”, the dark haired girl asked.  
  
“That you aren’t a bad person at all.”, the blonde replied.  
  
Carmilla chuckled and shook her head slightly, “Don’t sound so surprised there, creampuff.”  
  
“Laura. My name is _Laura_.”, Laura locked eyes with Carmilla.  
  
“I know.”  
  
“ _Say it._ ”, Carmilla’s stepsister urged her in a whisper and she did obey…  
  
  
“ **Laura**.”, a smooth, velvety utterance of her name, and the blonde melted away.  
  
  
The dark haired girl had one eyebrow risen, which slowly fell back into it’s usual place, softening the features on her sharp face. Carmilla was beautiful in any movement she did. Like the one, where she grew self-conscious and looked away, but Laura took her hand in hers and she immediately looked up to be met by the sun that waited for the moon to turn back to her.  
  
  
For the first time the sun’s rays were shining down on the moon.

So what happened, if the sun ever dared to touch the moon?

What happened if the glowing star kissed the watery star?  
  
  
Laura pulled on the hand that she was holding, until Carmilla could only bend forwards a little.  
The blonde placed a hand on the brunette’s neck and before the dark haired girl could grasp the situation, she felt a pair of lips moving against hers.  
  
  
How could the moon not bathe in the sun light and fully give in?  
  
  
All Carmilla could do is bury her hands in Laura’s blonde locks and pull her in deeper...


	10. We Once Were Lightyears Apart

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “You think I haven’t noticed how close you two have gotten? You are really stepping up to the sister thing, huh?”

Not in a million years would Carmilla have thought that this would happen.  
  
But it was totally happening. She was being pressed against the wall and fiercely kissed by her… _Stepsister_. The same who had rejected her and then- What was it with her?  
  
The brunette couldn’t even concentrate on enjoying the kiss, or the way Laura had slipped her tongue into her mouth- _What the creeping hell???_ (She even encouraged her by moving along hers against Laura’s. Seriously though, how could she not, when the situation presented itself to her?)  
  
Carmilla’s heart picked up speed. This was too much at once. How was this real?  
  
  
Laura slowed down the kiss and released Carmilla’s lip softly, opening her eyes in the process. The dark haired girl was already looking at her in pure shock. Seemed like the brunette found her tongue before the other girl did. (Funny, just some seconds ago they were tangled together and-)  
  
  
“What the hell was **that**?”  
  
Laura’s eyes darted to the now swollen lips of her stepsister, “I… I really don’t know.”  
  
The brunette frowned, “I’m here with Elsie and you… Are here with Will. You can’t just…”  
  
“I know…”, the blonde closed her eyes and huffed out a breath, “I’m sorry.”  
  
“We will talk about this later.”, the brunette couldn’t believe what she was saying.  
  
Laura nodded and watched her stepsister get into the gym. She checked, if anyone had seen the interaction between them, but no one seemed to be there at the moment. How could she have been that reckless?  
  
_Ohmigod. What have you done?_  
  
  
  
What was Carmilla doing? That was all she wanted right?  
Except, no it wasn’t, because for her it was Laura acting out, because she didn’t get it her way or whatever it was with her. Her stepsister made it hard for her to read her sometimes, and there she thought she was a good judge of character and mannerisms. Seemed like Laura Hollis was a mystery to her. However, she had to deal with that later. She was at the dance with Elsie, who she had left with her ex to deal with alone. Carmilla got back to the scene, but somehow her date had evaporated. She spotted her friend LaF on their table again and decided to stop by there at first. The redhead saw her approaching them and waved. They were missing the Curly Sue.  
  
  
“Where’s your-”  
  
“Don’t worry, she is just getting something to drink, I didn’t ruin anything.”, they rolled their eyes and Carmilla seemed to relax. Actually her state of stiffness hadn’t come from anticipating LaF to mess up, it was from the heated (and very short) make-out session with her stepsister.  
  
“Speaking of… Where’s _your_ date?”, the science nerd wanted to know.  
  
“I was actually kinda looking for her too.”, the dark haired girl sat down beside her friend.  
  
“How come you took Elsie to prom, by the way? Didn’t you say you didn’t like her like _that_ and that the thing with the boyfriend scared you off?”  
  
“It did, but then she broke up with him.”, the brunette admitted, “And _sometimes_ …”, her gaze fell onto Laura’s table, where the blonde just had sat down beside her twin, “… You need to let go of your stupid, foolish dreams.”  
  
“What dream are you talking about…?”, they seemed to catch onto something, but noticed their friend’s eyes on Laura, “Actually… What’s up with you and _Ms. Popular_ over there?”  
  
“What are you even talking about?”, Carmilla’s gaze immediately snapped to her best friend. _They didn’t know, did they?_  
  
“You think I haven’t noticed how close you two have gotten? You are really stepping up to the _sister thing_ , huh?”, LaFontaine nudged the dark haired girl, who frowned, “Hey? What’s wrong?”  
  
Carmilla closed her eyes and pressed together her lips (the ones that were kissing Laura’s just some minutes ago), “Listen… You are my best friend… And I gotta tell you something.,,”  
  
  
However just as she was about to talk openly about her little (=embarrassingly big) infatuation with Laura, she was interrupted, “Carmilla?” It was Elsie.  
  
The brunette turned around, “Hey, I was actually looking for you in the crowd…”, the blonde clearly had been crying, “Hey cupcake, what’s wrong?”  
  
“Nothing… I just don’t feel like being here anymore…”  
  
“Oh…”, Carmilla stood up from where she was seated, “Okay, we’ll leave.”  
  
The blonde shook her head, “No, no, I wouldn’t wanna make you leave so early, I can-”  
  
“Hey! I picked you up and I am dropping you off at home. If I decide to, I can still come back after, right?”  
  
“Yeah uhm…”, Elsie seemed to think about it (as if Carmilla would leave her any choice).  
  
  
To be truthful, the dark haired girl felt a little guilty. She felt guilty for having those goddamn feelings for Laura and still asking Elsie to prom. She was feeling guilty for every ounce of satisfaction she had felt in her, when a fuming Laura had passed her some hours ago, when the brunette had clearly rubbed her face into the things she had done with Elsie. She was feeling guilty for having kissed her stepsister (even though she practically did nothing - _Laura_ had kissed _her_ ).  
  
  
  
  
“Hey! Are you alright?”, Danny was asking her best friend, who had been weird all night long.  
  
“Yeah… Where are the boys?”  
  
“Oh, don’t worry about them. Kirsch and Will are probably talking about manly things with the football douches.”  
  
Laura nodded and stared off into distance.  
  
“Hollis? What’s wrong with you?”  
  
“Nothing’s wrong.”  
  
“Why did you bring Will to prom?”  
  
“Well, I don’t know… He asked and I was…”,  Laura tried to justify it to herself, but she couldn’t. Why did she do that? Why in the world didn’t she just go alone, as planned? Maybe if she had done that, Carmilla would not have gotten herself a date too and- the blonde found her own thoughts a little troublesome.  
  
“But why would you play all the guys into the arms? I mean people seeing you with Will? You do know what his reputation is, don’t you? He and his sister are the same. He is probably telling everyone about having conquered you or something and now more guys will be after you… Weren’t you trying to prevent exactly that?”  
  
Laura wasn’t dumb, she knew that, but she wasn’t worried about that part of the conversation, “Danny, I told you Carmilla is not what you think she is, she is-”  
  
“Okay fine, I take Elvira out of this, but Will is a manwhore, and everyone knows that.”, the tall redhead cut her off.  
  
The blonde nodded, clearly accepting the fact, “I know. I am so dumb, Dan. I blew everything.”  
  
“What?”, Danny frowned, “What did you blow? What are we talking about now?”  
  
  
They were interrupted by a guy approaching the blonde, “Hey Laura? It’s time for the announcement of prom queen and king.”  
  
“Are we doing that **now**?”, Laura asked surprised.  
  
“Seems so.”  
  
  
—  
  
“Thank you for the- _for everything_. Thanks for going to prom with me and… Even if I only was your pity prize.”, Elsie said sadly.  
  
“Hey, you are not my-”  
  
The blonde shook her head, “Carmilla, I can’t force you to like me. James and I… We talked and he was right too with some things. I can’t just jump from one relationship to another, especially when the _other person_ doesn’t even want me that way. I just got hopeful, when you asked me, but I shouldn’t have gone with you. And I shouldn’t have gone to your house last night… It was stupid.”  
  
“I’m sorry. For keeping up your hopes. You are a great girl, you know? Just…”  
  
“ _Not the one you like_. I know, and this situation is partly my fault, because I’m so into you that it’s barely normal.”, the brunette knew that feeling from somewhere…  
  
  
  
Carmilla felt queazy, “I kissed her.”  
  
“What?”  
  
“The girl I liked… Well, **like** … Actually _she_ kissed _me_ and I just-”, the brunette looked up to be met by a pair of blue eyes, “Fuck, I really shouldn’t tell _you_ of all people.”, she chuckled.  
  
Elsie shook her head, “No, it’s actually kind of nice seeing you light up like this. Plus… I still feel bad for the whole misunderstanding with my ex, so you can rub it into my face. I owe you one for that whole thing anyway.”  
  
“You mean, the thing about how you failed to tell me that you were cheating on your boyfriend with me?”  
  
“Yes that would be it…”, Carmilla nodded and eyed her own hand that was resting on the steering wheel, “Seriously though, you can tell me, if you want to.”, Elsie encouraged the other girl, who just shook her head.  
  
“No. I still don’t know what it means for me, because she is… _Kind of unreachable_ … She’s probably just confused.”  
  
“Why? Do you think she is straight?”  
  
“What? No.”, the brunette looked at the passenger, “Not _that_ kind of confused. I can’t tell you the whole story. It’s complicated.”  
  
“Okay… Well… You still have time to get to the dance and maybe figure it out with her?”  
  
Carmilla looked at the clock in her car. Elsie was right. She could still go to the dance and ask Laura what the kiss had meant. Or let her elaborate on what her whole behavior had meant, because so far Laura was a girl sending mixed signals and Carmilla didn’t like to be played with.  
  
—  
  
  
  
The principal got up to the stage, ready to make an announcement. Laura (as the president of the school committee) was also standing there and here and there reciprocating a wave. Gosh there were many people that knew her, but she kind of didn’t know most of them. Which should have been a little troubling, but the blonde didn’t have time to think about that now.  
  
“Good evening dear students and faculty members, and even parents that are chaperoning this event!”, Veronica threw a smile to her husband, who was grinning up to his two most favorite ladies, “As the principal of this highly traditional school I would like to thank you all for coming. I hope you have a nice rest of the dance, here under the stars- which, by the way, applause to Laura Hollis for organizing this.”, the woman cut herself off, to applaud her stepdaughter with the crowd.  
  
“And now, I would like to give Laura the opportunity to say some words, before announcing this year’s prom king and queen.”, the principal handed Laura two envelopes and made the stage clear for only the sun to shine on it.  
  
  
  
Carmilla entered the gym right in that moment, seeing her stepsister nervously fiddling with her dress in an attempt to calm down her nerves. The sun looked up to be met by a pair of dark eyes that were so soothing in the moment. And everything came crashing down. She knew what to say almost instantly.  
  
  
“I too would like to thank you all for coming here tonight. As this year’s fairly newly elected president of the school committee I got the task to organize this dance. I have to admit though, when I got the theme from the board, I was highly skeptical. I didn’t know, what they wanted. Huge kudos to the board, by the way for finding us great sponsors and believing in my capabilities…”, Laura was following Carmilla with her eyes, as she seated herself by some random table in the far back, “However… Now, where was I?”, the blonde laughed nervously, “You gotta forgive my nervousness, I don’t give speeches that often and to be honest I hadn’t planned on saying so much. It’s just that… _A dance under the stars_ can mean a lot of things and I hope you liked _this_ interpretation. See, all the stars are so many light years apart from each other, but here on this night I - _well my whole team and I_ \- tried to bring them under one ceiling. And that’s what this whole thing is about. To bring together friends and our dear ones and enjoy a night! So, I would like to thank our principal, my friends on the committee, who helped a lot in terms of setting up and uhm… **Carmilla Karnstein** … Who we can all be thankful for, because of her genius mind and who I have grown to count to one of my closer friends throughout this whole process.”  
  
Carmilla’s eyebrows were up, she clearly was surprised by the mention of her name and those -what seemed like- truthful, nice words.  
  
“So, now we shall move on to what you all have been waiting for, yeah?”, Laura opened the first envelope that was in her hand, “This year’s prom queen is…”, the blonde’s eyes grew wide, she vigorously shook her head, “This can’t be…”  
  
“What is it?”, the principal asked in a whisper, entering the stage again. Only Laura could hear her clearly, because she was in reach. Veronica took the piece of paper and eyed it, before smiling into the microphone by the small podium, “Well it seems like the prom queen is none other than our beloved president of the school committee…”  
  
“But this can’t be-”  
  
“Yes it can.”, Veronica chuckled and found her stepdaughter’s shock endearing. She took the other envelope and was clearly surprised, “And the prom king is my son, Will. Come on over here, wherever you are…”, she searched the crowd.  
  
  
And he did appear, smirking in a way that usually did melt away all the straight girls, but Laura only saw his twin in him. That was the only thing attractive about him. Him being somewhat akin to his sister (go figure, they were related).  
  
Laura was standing there still, while someone placed a tiara on her head and Will gestured for her to take his hand.  
  
“Come on, we get to have the dance to this song.”, Will gestured for his stepsister to take his extended hand.  
  
“Ah, yeah _the dance_.”  
  
  
  
Carmilla had eyed her twin with the subject of her infatuation and it made her stomach cringe. She knew the looks he was throwing her. She knew her twin too well, just like he knew her (which she never admitted to of course). They had been close before puberty hit and it wasn’t cool anymore to be the brother of the dark haired underdog-sister. Their only rivalries back then, as children, were about stealing toys. And now? Well, it hadn’t changed much, except the toy issue was exchanged by a **girl** issue.  
  
Why couldn’t he have turned out gay just like her? She glared in their direction one last time, before trying to find her friend LaF and their date, because she wanted to make sure, they both were brought back home safely.  
  
  
  
  
“I’m glad that you decided to go with me.”, Will whispered into Laura’s ear.  
  
The blonde didn’t reply, she just leaned away a bit.  
  
  
“I gotta say… You were probably right about my sister.”  
  
“Right about what?”, Laura asked her dance partner.  
  
“That she isn’t into you.”  
  
The girl frowned, “I was?”  
  
“Yeah… I mean you saw her with that blonde cheerleader tonight right? They seemed to hit it off.”  
  
“Did you see them _hit it off_?”  
  
Laura just then realized. Elsie was pining for Carmilla the whole time. Elsie, who had been her friend, who they talked about shortly before she decided to do that monumentally stupid thing. She had just imposed herself on her stepsister. Although Carmilla _did_ reciprocate the kiss, she _did_ let it happen. There were a myriad of feelings running through her mind, heart whatever organ was responsible for her emotions.  
  
“I’m sorry…”, Laura stepped out of the embrace.  
  
“Did I do something wrong?”  
  
“No, I just… Will, I should have been honest with you… I didn’t come to the dance with you. I mean, I did, but I didn’t come here with you, because I wanted you as my date.”  
  
Will frowned, “What are you talking about?”  
  
“I’m not into you that way, but you already know that right?”  
  
“Well yeah, I know that you don’t feel that way yet, but we fit well together right? Even our parents said so.”  
  
Laura thought back to the incident at their house, when both Greg and Veronica had told her and Carmilla that they looked beautiful together.  
  
  
“No. I…”, she just couldn’t tell one of the school’s biggest douches about her sexuality, “I don’t see you that way and I never will.”  
  
“Never say never. That Canadian dude sings it all the time.”  
  
“Are you quoting Justin Bieber in an attempt to woo me?”, Laura asked. She was actually quite amused by that.  
  
“Well- I mean, I might have heard that one song…”, Will admitted.  
  
  
“I like someone else.”  
  
**There.** It was actually the truth. Without having to tell him who it was. Except she couldn’t act on it anyway, because Carmilla and Elsie were a thing and she wasn’t a cheater. Plus, Carmilla seemed to want to get away after they had shared the kiss. Everything was so confusing. Laura confused herself with all of her stupid feelings and herself acting on them. Her damn impulsiveness was getting in her way.  
  
“I need to get away, sorry.”, Laura excused herself and made plans to find her stepsister. She needed to tell her something important.  


 

 

***

  
  
“Thank you LaFontaine. I really had a great time tonight.”, Perry said and got out of the car.  
  
Carmilla turned around and gestured her friend to get out to and at least walk her to her porch. They again did as she told. She did know one or two things about chivalry, didn’t she? No wonder everyone was swooning over her.  
  
The brunette watched them both slowly walking to the front door, before averting her gaze to give them some privacy. She thought about the night. **The kiss**. Laura’s words about her. And then her and Will dancing. It all was too much to handle. What did all of that mean?  
  
Was Laura into her now? Just like that? All of a sudden? Or was this some weird mind-twisting game she was playing? She really needed to talk with someone about this. Plus, she needed to hear Laura’s side of the story.

  
“So, did ya miss me?”, LaF was suddenly jumping into her passenger’s seat.  
  
“Very much so, yes.”  
  
The redhead frowned, “You gotta stop reading your Victorian novels. You are starting to sound like Mr. Darcy.”  
  
“But he never-”, Carmilla didn’t bother with finishing her sentence, “How did the goodbye go?”  
  
“Well, we are eating lunch together on Monday, so that’s a win right?”  
  
“Yes! I told you she would like you. You are such a whine-ass sometimes.”  
  
“Yeah, yeah… Now tell me, how’s _your_ night been?”  
  
“Eventful.”, Carmilla replied thoughtfully.  
  
“Care to elaborate?”  
  
Carmilla looked at her friend, who was eying her suspiciously. Partly also because the brunette had made no attempt at starting her car.

 

  
  
“ **Laura kissed me**.”  
  
LaF gaped. “No fucking way!”  
  
“I know.”, Carmilla sunk back into her seat.  
  
“I mean she’s like the _straightest_ girl I know… Why do all the girls always experiment with you?”  
  
The brunette threw her friend a glare, “Oh common, as if you’ve ever even dared to look at someone else since grade 8, which also would be the year Curly Sue transferred to our school.”  
  
“Wait, wait… We are not talking about me now… Tell me… How did that happen?”, LaF thought about it for a second, “And _when_ did it happen?”  
  
“At prom, just an hour ago.”  
  
“Jeez… Hey, but you were with Elsie at prom.”  
  
“I know…”, Carmilla frowned, “Does that make me a bad person?”  
  
“No… I mean you obviously couldn’t do anything about it, I mean… You surely were surprised.”  
  
“Yeah you could say that.”  
  
“Plus, you don’t even like her like that, right?”  
  
Carmilla met the science nerd’s gaze. Nothing needed to be said.  
  
  
“Oh my god Laura is the one you told me about??? All this time when you talked about liking someone, it was Laura?!”  
  
“Yes.”, the brunette answered curtly. Oh yes, now **that** was a little embarrassing.  
  
“Carmilla Karnstein falling for the straight girl. Wouldn’t have thought so…”  
  
“Except she **isn’t**. She is as gay as you and me.”  
  
LaFontaine’s eyes grew wide, “Shut up! Laura Hollis is not gay, is she?”  
  
“Yup.”, Carmilla groaned, “You cannot tell anyone about this. No one knows.”  
  
“Right, sure, sure…”, the science nerd understood, “Now get your car started, before Perry thinks I’m some weird stalker and tell me everything on our way to my place.”  
  
“Sure thing, Gingersnap.”  
  
  
Carmilla needed to talk it off her chest anyway.  
  


 

***

  
  
Laura was dropped off by a cab. Her stepmother and her father had stayed longer at her high school, with Veronica being the principal of Silas High after all. The blonde just didn’t feel like staying there any longer, plus she had been unsuccessful in finding her stepsister.  
  
The quest for Carmilla had found an end though the minute Laura stepped into their house. A light in the living room was on and some theme to a TV-show was playing. This could only be Carmilla, because Will was still at the dance… **Or** … A serial killer waiting for the girl to come home.

  
_Thank god for the Krav Maga lessons._  
  
  
“Hello?”, the blonde tried to gain the person’s attention.  
  
“Yeah?”  
  
It was Carmilla. Laura’s heart didn’t know what to do. There was relief on the one hand that made her heart beat slower, but then again, _ohmigod it was Carmilla_ , and her heart was jumping -no making somersaults.  
  
Slowly the blonde made her way to the living room to find a pretty casually dressed Carmilla sitting on the couch, zapping through channels.  
  
“Hey…”, Laura was biting her lip.  
  
Carmilla smiled up to her, “Hey.”  
  
  
And god was she beautiful that way. So unguarded. So utterly, amazingly, breathtakingly, innocently beautiful.  
  
  
“Watching TV?”  
  
“Well, not really. I’ve been staring onto the screen, but somehow my mind’s not into it.”  
  
Laura could relate to that, “Can I join you?”  
  
“Of course.”  
  
  
  
“What are you doing so early at home?”, the blonde asked, averting her gaze to the television screen, once she was seated on the fairly big sofa. She was on one end, Carmilla on the other. They were separated just by an arm’s reach.  
  
“I could ask _you_ the same thing.”  
  
Laura nodded, “True.”  
  
“Where’s the asshat?”  
  
“Oh, the last time I saw him, he was talking to Kirsch…”  
  
“And our parents?”  
  
“Are not gonna be at home for the next two hours, I suppose.”  
  
The dark haired girl seemed to think, “So _why_ are _you_ here early?”  
  
“I just didn’t feel like being there anymore… What about you? And Elsie…?”, Laura looked to her right for a short second, “I mean…”, What did she mean?  
  
“I drove her home shortly after…” … _we kissed_. Carmilla stopped herself from saying that.  
  
  
However it seemed like Laura wasn’t even listening to her answer, “We should talk about what happened at the dance.”  
  
The dark haired girl inhaled deeply and turned off the TV, before turning to her stepsister and giving her undivided attention.  
  
“We should.”  
  
  
  
_And if only sun and moon ever dared to cross paths, it would mean the end of the world, right...?_


	11. Obsession

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Because you drive me crazy.”

“Soooo…”, Laura was firmly pressing her lips together.  
  
The other girl draped her hand over the back of the couch, making herself more comfortable.  
  
“ **Well?** ”, Carmilla quirked up her eyebrows, obviously waiting for an explanation, excuse, something.  
  
Laura closed her eyes and knit together her brows.  
  
  
“You want an explanation for what happened.”, _start with stating the obvious, Hollis._  
  
“I actually would like a manual for how to read you.”  
  
The blonde tilted her head to the side, “Why?”  
  
“Because you drive me crazy.”, the dark haired girl started, “I mean… You can’t just play with me like that.”, she gestured in the air.  
  
“Play with you?”, Laura also rested an arm on the back of the couch, but leaned her head onto her hand.  
  
Carmilla frowned, “How else would you call that cat and mouse thing you’ve been doing with me?”  
  
“Do you really think I played with you?”  
  
“ _Laura._ ”, the dark haired girl said fiercely and cast her stepsister a knowing look. Except she didn’t know anything. She didn’t know that Laura did it out of impulse. That there was no weird scheming behind all of that.  
  
  
“No, seriously though. Do you really think that?”  
  
Carmilla swallowed and sighed, “What? Are you going to prove me wrong now?”  
  
Laura rolled her eyes on Carmilla, as she was going on about things that really weren’t true. The issue of her wanting to kiss the dark haired girl again was in her mind now- _and only that._  
What the hell was she thinking? The blonde’s gaze wandered to those dark red lips (Carmilla had failed to wipe off the lipstick) and how smooth the movement of her upper and bottom lip was. She was so graceful in everything she did. Laura couldn’t help herself but shut that pretty face up. Well, Carmilla certainly wasn’t expecting it. **Again.** It was much more fun like this anyway.  
  
“I mean-”  
  
Carmilla was effectively cut off by Laura’s lips capturing hers. Very much in the manner of the kiss at the dance.  
  
  
_What the hell is this girl doing?_  
  
This time though Carmilla pushed her stepsister away, before it could get too heated.  
  
  
“What the actual fuck?! Laura, you can’t just do that! And-”, the dark haired girl said, while still clutching to the blonde’s shoulders.  
  
“Can you just shut up for a second?”  
  
Jeez, there she was kissing her, and still Carmilla was ignoring everything. Talk about oblivious. _Who was the oblivious one now?_  
  
“Damn it, Carmilla!”, Laura stilled the other girl’s head with her hands, “I am **not** playing any game.”  
  
“You are **not**?”  
  
The blonde’s eyebrows were risen, as she tried to walk Carmilla through what she was trying to say to her.  
  
“I’m not. When I kissed you at the dance, it meant _something_ to me.”, she exhaled, in a hope to get rid of whatever worry there was, “I don’t kiss anyone like that. I actually enjoyed kissing you...” And she actually wanted to do it all the time. What the hell?!  
  
“Wait…”, the girl tried to shake her head, with Laura’s hands still holding her in place. For the first time she realized. Laura - _fucking_ \- Hollis had kissed her. Again. “You just kissed me again.”  
  
  
Laura’s eyes grew wide and she couldn’t hold it in anymore. She started laughing. Laughing hard. **LHAO** would fit into that situation so perfectly, because she fell forwards, resting her arm on the brunette’s thigh, to have some stability.  
  
Carmilla watched her in awe. It was the sun, fully radiating, burning her with its energy. Yes, too much sunlight could blind you.  
  
  
“You are laughing about this.”, the brunette commented, also smiling. Why did she smile? She forced a serious expression on herself.  
  
“I’m sorry, but this is too good. I mean, I knew, I was a good kisser, but did I leave you _that_ flustered?”  
  
“Well… No! It’s not about being- **What the?!** ”  
  
Laura regained her composure, this conversation wasn’t at all going like it should, and she wanted to change that. She was sitting up and smoothed out the creases all of her laughing had caused to appear on her dress. Good thing that the gown was made of chiffon.  
  
  
“Okay… So the kiss… _Kisses, plural_ … I am **not** playing with you.”

  
Carmilla sat up right, biting her lip and trying to follow with a frown decorating her face. Again. All of that didn’t make any sense.  
  
“So what was/is that then?”  
  
“Honestly? _I don’t know._ I just felt like doing it.”  
  
That answer wasn’t satisfactory at all.  
  
“Just felt like it?”  
  
“No, god, I didn’t mean it like _that_.”  
  
“What did you mean then? Explain.”  
  
“How can I explain something I don’t fully understand? I just…”, Laura’s gaze fell onto her hands in her lap, “I really wanted to kiss you in that moment.”  
  
“Okay so… It was just a fleeting moment?”  
  
“Yes.”, the blonde said all-too-eager, but then deflated in her position, as she was thinking about it, “Actually, **no.** ”  
  
“No?”, Carmilla grew hopeful. There was something the blonde wasn’t saying or maybe she wasn’t aware of it.  
  
Laura only shook her head and looked up to be met with Carmilla’s intense gaze. She was studying her. Like an art piece. Laura was a work of art. The way her hair was now falling all around her shoulders like waterfalls, framing her pretty face. The way her pinkish red lips glowed, because she had licked over them several times, whilst talking about their kiss. Wasn’t that a sign that she kind of enjoyed it? _Well, duh, she just admitted to it_ … Sort of. **Whatever.**  
  
  
Carmilla found that it was her turn now to test out her impact on the blonde.  
  
“Can I try something?”  
  
The blonde nodded absently, clearly fixating the brunette’s lips. There was a smirk to be traced back to that face. Why was the brooding punk chick all smug now?  
  
“What did you wanna try?”, Laura was still amazed by Carmilla’s (really soft) lips. Mesmerized. Awestruck.  
  
“Close your eyes.”  
  
The blonde did as she was told, waiting for further instructions or whatever. What the hell was she even doing? What the hell were _they_ doing? Laura felt her chest tighten, her breathing hitched. She didn’t even have any clue what the other girl was up to, but the thrill and suspense was killing her.  
  
At the first contact (namely, when Carmilla threaded her hand through some loose curls around her shoulder) she flinched.  
  
“Are you nervous?”  
  
“No you just surprised me, is all.”, Laura let out more calmly than she would have thought.  
  
_You go, Hollis._  
  
  
“Now you can imagine how I felt earlier at prom.”, she saw how Laura sucked in her upper lip and bit on it. The dark haired girl only got a hum in response to her statement.  
  
  
“ _Why_ did you want to kiss me?”, Carmilla asked now and dragged her thumb over the blonde’s jawline. It was featherlight, but still didn’t fail to make Laura squirm under her touch. Every one of those reactions were safely tucked away in the brunette’s mind. **There was something.**  
  
“Because… Because…”, Laura sighed, “I told you, I don’t know.”  
  
“This is not true.”, Carmilla pinched the other girl’s chin, ever so lightly, but still conveying a message. She moved closer to Laura’s face and whispered the next words, “Tell me.”  
  
Laura also took on a whisper, although it wasn’t necessary, “I swear, I don’t know.”  
  
The other girl released her rather light grip on her chin and sighed quietly.  
  
“It really is a shame, because _I know my reason for wanting to kiss you_.”, Carmilla said and Laura opened her eyes immediately to be met with her thoughtful stepsister.  
  
The dark haired girl smiled sadly and turned to the clock indicating that it was shortly before midnight.  
  
“We should probably just go to sleep. It’s late.” Laura clearly was only confused and not into her. Kissing Carmilla because she had felt like doing so. (Whatever the hell that meant.)  
  
  
  
Laura felt all the tension leave her body. There was nothing. Carmilla gave her **nothing.** Which probably was good, because she just then remembered that this (whatever _this_ was) actually couldn’t happen. Carmilla and Elsie were… **Whatever** and she just couldn’t ruin that. Everything was so freaking confusing. Her weird behavior that she couldn’t explain herself and those weird feelings towards her stepsister were more than irritating to her. When she talked to Will, and told him that she liked someone else, she saw Carmilla in her inner eye, which now was ridiculous to her. Even if it had felt that way. She did not have _that_ kind of feelings for her stepsister. _No freaking way._  
  
That was the next thing. **Stepsisters.** They were stepsisters.  
  
  
  
Suddenly Laura was interrupted in her intense thoughts, when she felt something (or rather someone) shift on the sofa. It was the brunette standing up now and stretching a little. Of course her shirt rode up with that little movement and of course Laura had been staring in the right few seconds. And of course she had seen a- _Wait a minute._  
  
  
  
“Is that a tattoo?”, Laura asked, the brunette quickly pulled on the hem of her top, covering up her hipbones again.  
  
“Why, Laura Hollis, did I catch you staring at my body? Your eyes seem to be very naughty.”, the dark haired girl chuckled and looked down at her stepsister. She was dodging the question, she did not feel like talking now at all. Heart broken 2.0.  
  
Laura got up too and was genuinely interested, “Does your mother know?”  
  
Carmilla only shook her head.  
  
“What is it?”, the blonde looked back to the spot, where she had discovered said thing. She hadn’t seen anything, really, just a glimpse of something that just didn’t belong on Carmilla’s left hipbone. Damn it, why hadn’t she looked at her body more closely, when she was wearing that damn corset one day? (Right, because back then she wasn’t interested at all- not that she was now... She just was more curious than before, because she knew Carmilla now...) And that kiss (the kisses) were kisses of friendship (Totally legit and stuff.).  
  
“This is something you would only get to see, if we-”, Carmilla usually wouldn’t have passed an opportunity like this to make an inappropriate comment. However this time though she couldn’t, her tongue was stuck in her mouth, because she actually did picture how it would be- **Which totally not cool ~~(instead very, very hot)~~.** So she stopped immediately, when realizing it for herself. “Sorry, I’m tired. I think I’m gonna…”, the brunette gestured to the staircase and made her way up the stairs. Two at a time. Running away seemed like a good idea.  
  
  
Laura was kind of impressed and surprised that Carmilla hadn’t continued her sentence. Of course she knew, _what_ the other girl was implying with that. Since when had Carmilla become thoughtful of her choice of words around the blonde? And since when did she blush, when receiving such a comment?! _Get it together, Hollis!_  
  
  
**Whatever.** This (whatever _this_ was) wasn’t happening anyways. It was a dumb misunderstanding. Friends kiss all the time. Laura just got carried away. Totally.

  
The fact that sun and moon meeting would end the world was real after all.

  

 

 

 

***

  
  
Several days had passed, since that “incident”. It was still a mystery to Laura, how Carmilla could just act as if nothing happened. (Not that it wasn’t totally cool, because it was a _kiss of friendship_. Yes. Kiss out of confusion. Yes. ~~Kiss out of desperation.~~ Maybe. Carmilla was the first girl to make a somewhat move on her.) They hadn’t had a real conversation since that Friday night. The usual grunts of acknowledgements in the mornings didn’t count. Plus another thing: Elsie was seen with Carmilla on several occasions.  
  
  
Who sits together at lunch? _Elsie and Carmilla._  
  
Who was seen together in the quad? _You guessed it, Elsie and Carmilla._  
  
  
Laura didn’t understand any of it. Were they together now or what? Plus, if they were, had Carmilla told the blonde about their kiss? Did Laura want Elsie to know? Why was she obsessing over them? She was perfectly capable of obsessing over someone else. She could find someone else to obsess with. **Totally.** It was only the lack of her own love life that made her feel those weird stomach-twisting feelings, whenever she saw her stepsister. That was so it.  
  
Who did like leather pants and eyeliner anyway? **Not Laura, that’s who.**  
  
And then that annoying (and possibly attractive) smirk and her smugness. Her whole appearance telling everyone not to mess with her, because she was some broody badass. _Yeah, right, as if._ Carmilla was the sweetest person she knew- Okay, well not sweet as in cute sweet, just sweet as in generally uhm… **Nice.**  
  
The blonde groaned.

 _Friends. Friends. Friends. We are friends. Sort of. Not even._  
  
  
“Hey Laur, what’s up with you?”, Danny seated herself beside her best friend during lunch break.  
  
“What?”  
  
“You’re weird lately. Actually ever since that whole prom debacle…”  
  
Laura grew alert, “What prom debacle?!”, had anyone seen her kiss Carmilla? (Not that the kiss had been a debacle... Just the reaction to it.)  
  
“Well the planning process swallowed you whole. You didn’t have time for any of your friends and now you’re doing it again.”, the redhead was right. Laura was avoiding her friends. Only because she wanted to be home though… _For_ … ~~No reason.~~  
  
“I just am a little behind with schoolwork, because I uh… Missed classes in the process of planning prom, ya know?”  
  
“Because those three classes that you missed need so much time?”  
  
Danny was throwing Laura a meaningful look, and the blonde blushed a little.  
  
“Listen, there is a party at my house tomorrow. You have to come and I’m not taking a no for an answer…”, the taller girl hesitated a little, before adding, “Bring Elvira if you want… Her brother is coming though too… Just a heads up for you.”  
  
“Seriously???”, Laura whined. She had successfully avoided him for the past week.  
  
“Are you guys still not talking?”  
  
“Well I kind of dumped him… It’s awkward. I’m actually impressed that he has accepted it. I expected him to be all douche-y about it.”  
  
“Anyway, you are not excusing yourself from this. I wanna see you get drunk a little, loosen up a bit. There are gonna be a lot of girls… So you could, _you know_ … Make out with some or something… I mean, you could always blame the alcohol, if you don’t want anyone to know-”  
  
“Uh yeah, got it. I’ll be there.”, Laura didn’t want to hear anything else. Danny would eventually have it her way anyway.  
  
  
  
  
Carmilla was reading and popping a fry into her mouth here and there, while Perry and LaF were talking about some weird _hippie-indie-whatever_ band.  
  
“ **Red.** ”  
  
“Yeah?”  
“Yes?”  
  
_Fantastic, they were already in sync._  
  
“I meant the Gingersnap.”, Carmilla cleared it up, “Do you have time to get the assignment in Science done after school?”  
  
“Uh… Sure?”  
  
“Excellent, I’ll be waiting at my car after school. I just want to get this over with, see you later.”  
  
“See you later.”  
  
  
The brunette packed her backpack and stalked off, not minding her way, when she accidentally bumped in with someone. Of course it would be Laura.  
  
“Watch it, Creampuff.”, Carmilla winked (preserving her faux nonchalance) and left behind a wide-eyed Laura.  
  
  
Oh yeah, that was a thing too. All those freaking nicknames again. Laura wished for nothing more than the sound of her name on Carmilla’s lips. The movements of her perfect lips, while saying the five-lettered forename. _Ugh._ **Ew.** She clearly had to do something about this weird obsession of hers.

 

 

 

 

***

  
  
  
“So Lois Lane is right across the hall and you are telling me that you’re keeping your cool with all of this?”, LaFontaine mocked their friend, while lying down on her bed.  
  
“Seriously, I am almost done with my part… You keep distracting me.”, Carmilla was reading in her textbook, trying to figure out the last paragraph.  
  
“Hurry, loser.”, the redhead picked up a bunched up piece of paper and threw it at the brunette, “I want to hear juicy stories of you and Ms. Popular.”  
  
Carmilla glared in their direction, “Fuck off. I don’t have any _juicy_ stories to tell you.”  
  
“You know that I don’t believe you, even though you keep saying that the whole time. I know you, Karnstein. I know your game. You can’t tell me you’re not into the game, when this play field is just perfect.”  
  
“No you don’t know anything about me and Laura!”, Carmilla got a little loud with that one, but immediately caught herself, “She’s not just someone I want to fuck alright?”  
  
—  
  
Laura was dropped off by Natalie at her house. She knew that this time around no one usually was around. She was looking forward to having a little space from everyone. Even her dad had annoyed her in the past few days. What was it with her tolerance for people? Why was it that everyone wanted her attention, but the one girl she was willing to give it to, wanted exactly the opposite?  
  
The blonde lazily got out of her shoes, once inside and made her way up the stairs, when she heard voices. Carmilla’s door was open slightly and the muffled noises made more sense, once she was close enough.  
  
  
Laura knew that it was Carmilla and some friend, but didn’t know, what they were talking about. The best thing to do was to listen in on a conversation like that, right? Laura Hollis was a nosey little human after all…  
  
  
  
“She’s not just someone I want to fuck alright?”  
  
LaF had their eyebrows risen, “I know. I just wanted to hear you admit that.”  
  
“You’re a pain in the ass.”  
  
“No. I just bring up things that you don’t talk about, even though you are the human with the most feelings.”  
  
“I’m not.”, Carmilla scoffed.  
  
“You are. You are like the queen of emotions and stuff, but you keep them hidden in a box that is like made of steel and tucked away in the back corner of your heart.”  
  
“I hate you.”  
  
“No you don’t… Common…”, LaFontaine dragged away the textbook the brunette was pretending to read, “Tell me about her.”  
  
“You go to school with her, she is Ms. Popular, like you said.”  
  
LaF rolled their eyes, “Crushes-on-Ms. Popular, I meant tell me, how did this all start?”  
  
“Fine…”, Carmilla sighed dramatically, “Remember last year when she dated that senior guy?”, the redhead nodded, “Well I had been possibly interested in her before that… But then that happened and I lost hope… And then… Ell happened.” Way to cut it short or something...  
  
“I remember.”, LaFontaine smiled at their friend knowingly, almost sadly, “So you’ve been into her during your relationship with Ell?”  
  
“I wouldn’t quite put it like that… I mean, yeah I obviously didn’t just lose all those feelings at once, but gradually while being with Ell it vanished, it subsided. I liked Ell. I liked her a lot, even _loved_ … But then things went downwards. We broke up and I never really got over that silly crush on Laura. Plus finding out that our parents were dating was a bit difficult too. We saw each other more often privately.”  
  
“I can imagine.”  
  
“Yeah, well… Then they got engaged, it happened so fast. I mean, our parents have been keeping it from us and only told us when it was you know… Too late… I mean, I wouldn’t have stopped it anyway, but I would have liked to know. Like I said... I saw Laura more often outside of school, when we weren’t forced to pay attention to class. And it developed. I grew more and more interested in her and well that’s that.”  
  
“And when did you find out that she was playing for our team?”  
  
“Just a few weeks ago, it was-”  
  
Suddenly there was a knock on the door.  
  
  
“Carmilla, you there?”, it was Laura.  
  
LaF and the brunette looked at each other, clearly making a silent agreement. They didn’t know that Laura had been eavesdropping.  
  
“Yeah, Creampuff, come on in.”  
  
The door was pushed open, to reveal a blonde human, who had a surprised expression on her face. (Good actress there. The school play was coming up soon anyway.)  
  
“Sorry, I didn’t know that you had a guest.”  
  
“This is LaF, they go to school with us.”  
  
“Oh, hey, I’m Laura!”, Carmilla’s stepsister stepped into the room and waved awkwardly.  
  
LaF rolled their eyes, “I know, who you are. You are kind of hard not to notice… _Ms. president of our school committee_.”  
  
“Right. I was just uhm… You know… Checking, if you were home… Do _whatever_ you were doing, I’m gonna be in my room.”  
  
  
Carmilla nodded and the blonde stepped out of her stepsister’s room and into her own. The brunette had been telling her friend about her crush on Laura and she was nosey enough to listen in. Which was kind of an asshole move, but equally was Carmilla’s… Telling her friend about Laura’s sexuality without her consent? _Not cool._ However she couldn’t even concentrate on the fact for too long, because she had to overthink all of the other things. Plus, she didn’t think that LaF would tell anyone. It seemed like they did know for a while, but so far no one at Silas had mentioned it to her, so that was that.  
  
What was also interesting, was the fact that Carmilla hadn’t once mentioned Elsie. Weren’t they a thing? That didn’t make sense to the blonde. Laura was so fixated on them both, but was she missing a part there? _Ugh._ Clearly obsessing again.

  

 

 

***

  
  
Laura was getting ready for the party at Danny’s in her shared bathroom with Carmilla, when the brunette came bursting in.  
  
  
“Oh god, this keeps happening to me, it seems.”, the dark haired girl chuckled. Of course thanking all the lords that this time the blonde was dressed.  
  
“You’re in a good mood.”, Laura noticed.  
  
Carmilla took her toothbrush and put some toothpaste on it, before wetting it, “Why wouldn’t I be? It’s a Friday and I’m going to a party.”, she started brushing her teeth.  
  
The blonde frowned, “You are?”  
  
“Yeah, I believe we are going to the same one. At the beanstalk’s place?”, the dark haired girl said, while pausing with her toothbrush secured in her hand.  
  
  
“Wait, you are going to Danny’s party? Willingly?”, Laura was facing her fully, while Carmilla spat out some foamy toothpaste.  
  
“Well yeah, Elsie invited me. All the cheerleaders will be there so…”  
  
Laura concluded something from the delivered information, “So you are doing this for Elsie? You going with her?”  
  
Carmilla chuckled, rinsing out her mouth, “I don’t do things for anyone, Creampuff. I’m going because I need some fun. I haven’t been to a party in a long time… Not since in the beginning of the school year.”  
  
  
_I don’t do things for anyone_. Laura knew that it wasn’t true. Alone in the last two months she had been doing all those things for her, like picking her up, when needed or dropping her off at various places. Carmilla had been a great help to her. She did do things for others. Carmilla went to great lengths for her.  
  
  
“Well… Awesome that means I’ll be seeing you there.”, the blonde let out.  
  
“Yup, maybe.”  
  
“Actually, Carm, do you wanna ride there together?”  
  
Carmilla frowned. There was a reason for her not interacting with her stepsister that much in the previous days. She was trying to preserve herself from furthering any feelings. Ever since that kiss, all of her feelings towards Laura had intensified. All she could think of, when the blonde talked with her was how soft her lips felt against her own or how nice her tongue felt in her mouth. _What the heck?!_  
  
  
“I mean you can, but I will be picking up Elsie though.”  
  
“That’s fine with me, no worries… That is, if _you_ have no problem with that…”, Laura was applying lip balm to her lips -which, side note: _Was she doing that on purpose???_  
  
Carmilla forced herself to drag away her eyes from her stepsister’s very distracting mouth, “No problem present here, sweetheart.”  
  
Laura eyed the other girl through the mirror, “Really? Is that why you’ve been avoiding me?”  
  
“I have not… Uhm, my schedule just got super busy and-”, Carmilla tilted her head, giving up with the lame-ass excuses, “Well, yeah, what do you expect? You gotta admit that things have become awkward ever since…”  
  
“We kissed?”, Laura finished off the sentence. Wow, the blonde was being blunt and fearless right now.  
  
“Yes.”  
  
Carmilla’s stepsister turned to face her, “Yeah? Why is that actually? Why is that kiss such a big deal to you?”  
  
“Are you for real now?” Had she not been listening to anything she had said? Laura couldn’t even tell her why she kissed her, what right did she have now to accuse her of not being real with her?  
  
“I am, I mean… You tell me how you like me, how you’ve been into me for this long time and I kiss you and-”  
  
“And what?”, Carmilla urged the blonde to continue. Now **that** was interesting, because the brunette did not know what Laura was implying there.  
  
“And nothing!”, Laura huffed, not really knowing, why she was so upset, but how could she not be? Carmilla was playing her hot and cold, without her even noticing.The things she had said to LaF... Did she even mean them?  (Laura didn’t see herself doing the exact same thing.) “We kiss and it does all those stupid things to me and I just- **You told me you liked me, but you never did anything about it!** ”  
  
  
Laura closed her eyes tightly. Okay, she did not mean to say **that**. This was not planned at all!


	12. I Know, Why Don't You?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “How many more times do I have to tell you that there is nothing going on between Elsie and I?”

“You told me you liked me, but you never did anything about it!”, the sentence hung between them like the sword of Damocles.  
  
Carmilla blinked. Once, twice, before her eyebrows furrowed. Before she could reply (or rather ask what the hell the other girl was talking about), Laura copped out.  
  
“I’m finding myself another ride, don’t bother. You and Elsie have fun at the party.”, the words sounded bitter, oh, did they. The dark haired girl wanted to run after her and clear that up, but she was surprised. Like, really **not** expecting that at all.  
  
However, what was Laura expecting from her anyway? She wasn’t interested in her. Why the hell would she want Carmilla to act on her feelings? Laura had clearly said that she couldn’t. Whatever the hell _that_ had meant. The brunette even had asked her to prom. And _someone_ declined, and went with the douche brother. What else did Laura want, seriously?  
  
  
  
  
  
  
“Hey cupcake!”, Carmilla greeted her passenger, as she buckled herself in, ready to drive up to the party.  
  
“Thanks for picking me up, it’s cool of you.”, the blonde cheerleader smiled.  
  
Carmilla slowly drove out of her parking spot and in direction of Danny’s house (Elsie told her, which turns to take, as the brunette never had been there.)  
  
  
“Are you and the squad of mean girls ready for the kick off games of our school hockey team?”, Carmilla asked. (She had picked up that that’s what the party was for.)  
  
“Yeah… Hey, Carmilla?”  
  
“Hmn?”  
  
“Thanks for wanting to be friends you know? You are pretty cool and kind... When you want to be.”  
  
The dark haired girl glared in Elsie’s direction, “Don’t you tell anyone about it.”  
  
The blonde chuckled, “No, wouldn’t wanna have your reputation ruined, now would we?”  
  
  
  
The moment Carmilla and Elsie stepped into Danny’s house, they saw how Laura was playing some douchey party game with some hockey players. They were all checking her out, while she was innocently chugging one beer after the other. _Well…_  
  
  
  
“Hey Els… And…”, Danny was looking at the dark haired girl, “Hello Carmilla.”  
  
The brunette forced a smile upon her face, “Hi, Danny.”, she had never said her name. It was cringeworthy.  
  
“So… Just make yourselves at home, my parents aren’t there for the whole weekend, so don’t worry about anyone busting in on us or something.”, the tall redhead chuckled, and gestured towards the big living room. She could play nice. Just for Laura of course, because it was important to her.  
  
  
“Do you wanna hang with some of my friends?”, Elsie asked insecurely.  
  
“Sure, cupcake.”  
  
The two girls went to a group of girls that were talking animatedly on the couch and Elsie cleared her throat.  
  
“Ey, everyone! Whatya talking about?”, all the girls turned to the blonde and made a weird face. Oh right, Elsie had lost some of her friends due to her little dispute with her ex at the dance. Many didn’t understand why she’d choose Carmilla of all the people to go to the dance with instead of James.  
  
“Nothing much…”, one of the dimwit squad said. Carmilla scoffed.  
  
“Come on cupcake, let’s get you something to drink first…”, the brunette placed a hand on her friend’s waist and led her to what she thought was the kitchen. She thought she was saving her. Chivalrous as she was.  
  
  
  
“They are-”, Elsie wanted to explain on their way to where the beverages were hoarded, but was interrupted.  
  
“ **Assholes.** Whatever, I’m here to keep you company. You did expect that, didn’t you? All the glaring?”  
  
“Well yeah, I mean they have been like this to me at school too, but I thought…”  
  
They walked into the kitchen, where Laura was sitting on the counter and drinking some water. Carmilla immediately let go of Elsie. Why did she though? It was out of reflex. Laura had caught onto that.  
  
  
“Hey Els!”, the blonde waved frantically.  
  
“Oh, hey Laura… See, at least _your sister_ is talking to me...”, the cheerleader said to Carmilla.  
  
Both Laura and Carmilla looked at each other.  
  
“We are **not** sisters.”, the blonde squinted her eyes at her stepsister.  
  
“You know what I meant…”, Elsie waved off, “Actually... Why didn’t you ride here with us together?”, valid question.  
  
“Nat wanted to give me a ride and I was like, _why not_.”, Laura shrugged and jumped off the counter to help herself to some of the heavier drinks that Danny surely stole from her parents’ liquor cabinet.  
  
“Creampuff, do you really wanna drink that stuff? Greg asked me to keep an eye out for-”  
  
“Mind your own business Carmilla. Have fun you two.”, and off she was with her red plastic cup in her hand.  
  
  
  
Laura found some secluded corner in the living room and sat down on the floor. Carmilla was clearly still enamoured with Elsie. What was she thinking really? That any of the words the brunette had said would affect their _relationship_? That the kiss would change everything? How could Carmilla say all those things to LaF and then rub her relationship with Elsie into her face? After Laura had shown her that- No, no, she showed her _nothing_. The blonde groaned loudly, Danny sat down on the floor beside her.  
  
  
“Why are you here, sitting on the floor and drinking all by yourself? What’s up Hollis?”  
  
“Why do you ask me that all the time?”  
  
“Because ever since…”, the tall girl thought about it, “Ever since you moved in with the Karnsteins you have gotten weird.”  
  
“What?”  
  
“Well, I mean, I get that you wanna be on the good side with Carmilla, but it almost seems like she’s taken you all up.”  
  
Laura scoffed, “I assure you, Carmilla’s not taking me up. The opposite actually.”  
  
“Why? I thought you both were friends now? Did you two _what_? Get into a fight?”  
  
“Nooo… We… **Nothing**. We were never really friends, I just wanted to get along with her…”  
  
“Really? What you said at the dance didn’t seem like it. You sounded like you had replaced me with her.”, Danny grinned.  
  
“Oh trust me, she made it clear that she **doesn’t** want to be friendly with me…”, the blonde clarified. Carmilla really had said that, not in those words, but yeah she had said it.  
  
“I thought…”, Danny stopped, because she was listening to the music that was playing in the background, “Oh my god! This is [Real](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H3T2RnTBp_4)! Come on, you gotta dance with me now! This was our summer song last year!”  
  
“What? No one’s even dancing.”, Laura frowned.  
  
The redhead was already getting up and dragging the other girl with her, singing along to the first line.  
  
  
“[I broooooke my boooones, playin’ games with youuuuu!](https://youtu.be/H3T2RnTBp_4?t=32) Come on, Lauraaa, this is it!!!”  
  
The blonde rolled her eyes, but couldn’t hide her own smile, “You are such a goof.”  
  
  
  
Elsie and Carmilla were watching the both friends from a far corner in the living room. The blonde eyed the other girl for a second, before asking what she wanted to since that smackdown with Laura in the kitchen.  
  
“What is it with you and Laura?”  
  
Carmilla shrugged, “What are you even talking about?”  
  
“Some weeks ago you two seemed to get along very well, but lately you barely mention her and today she was like really… _Hostile_.”  
  
The dark haired girl grunted, “Who knows what this girl wants.”  
  
“What do you mean?”  
  
“I don’t know cupcake okay?”  
  
“Jeez what’s with the people today? Everyone seems so grumpy…”  
  
“I’m not grumpy… I just… Have a lot on my mind.”  
  
“Yeah?”, Elsie looked around the place, before realizing something, “So that ominous, mysterious girl that you kissed at prom, is she here?”  
  
_Oh, if you knew…_  
  
“No, I haven’t seen that girl in a week.”, Carmilla said, while fixating her gaze on Laura, who was lip-syncing and dancing to the song that was playing. She just finished singing along to [‘I itch all night, I itch for you’](https://youtu.be/H3T2RnTBp_4?t=107), when her eyes met the brunette’s. They shared a meaningful look, one that no one seemed to be aware of. Carmilla couldn’t figure that girl out.  
  
Laura looked directly at her, when moving her lips to the [‘Oh, I, I think I’m into you. How much do you want me too? What are you prepared to do? Think I'm gonna make it worse, I talk to you but it don't work.’](https://youtu.be/H3T2RnTBp_4?t=123).  
  
Was that intended? Was she hinting at something with those words? Carmilla knew one thing: she needed to confront Laura.  
  
Did she want her to do something about her crush? Infatuation? About her lovingness?  
  
  
  
  
Some hours had passed. Carmilla still got a glare from most of the cheerleaders, but Elsie had managed to talk with some of her friends and the brunette had told her that she was doing okay on her own, reading some book about ancient Egypt that seemed to belong to Danny’s parents or someone. Beanstalk couldn’t be reading something like this now, could she?  
  
  
Speaking of beanstalk, “Hey Carmilla?”, the name still sounded like it came very unwillingly from her mouth.  
  
“Yeah?”, the dark haired girl frowned, because there was a look of concern in the redhead’s eyes. Hostility suited her better.  
  
“Laura’s kind of had enough, don’t you think?”, she gestured towards the couch on which Laura was lounging with two guys, both football players and friends of Kirsch. One of them had his hand on her thigh, the other was following whatever conversation they were having.  
  
Carmilla sighed, of course she had been keeping track of her stepsister, “And what do you want _me_ to do about it?”  
  
“Get her home.”, Danny gave her a pointed look, “Trust me, she will regret having muscle mouth much more closer than he already is.”  
  
“Got it. Thanks for… Uh thanks for the heads up.”, the brunette put the book back to its place and got up to play the hero.  
  
She usually wasn’t anybody’s hero. She let people do whatever the hell they pleased to do, but with Laura… She cared for her, at least that much she never had to hide. That much Laura knew, right? _Hopefully._  
  
  
“Alright, creampuff. Time to go.”, Carmilla interjected whatever conversation they were having.  
  
Laura shook her head, “What are you even talking about?”  
  
“Yeah, get yourself another girl, this one’s clearly enjoying _our_ company.”, douche #1 said. _He has a punchable face_ , Carmilla thought.  
  
“This one.”, Carmilla cocked her eyebrows towards Laura, “ _Is my sister._ ”, the brunette frowned, “Well **stepsister** and I say you let go of her, before I cut off that fucking hand.”  
  
  
Danny stepped in, “Alright Theo, just go to the dining room, Kirsch is waiting to play another round of beer pong.”  
  
  
That Theo (aka douche #2 - _also a very punchable face_) guy got up with a grunt and the other guy followed him.  
  
  
“What the fuck are you both doing? I was having fun!”, Laura asked in confusion.  
  
“Well, I just think Carmilla here should take you home… You’ve had enough… And you are weird tonight. You didn’t even have that much to drink...”  
  
“You wanted me at this freaking party and now you are kicking me out?”, the blonde asked her best friend incredulously.  
  
“I’m doing this for _your_ good.”  
  
“I’m not even remotely drunk.”  
  
“ _Clearly._ ”, Carmilla scoffed.  
  
  
Laura turned to her stepsister, “ **You shut up.** ”  
  
  
“What? You really wanna tell me that I should have left you here with _Theo_?”, the brunette asked.  
  
Danny just shook her head and excused herself, because she heard some of the boys making too much noise. Carmilla could handle this. She thought. She was scary and all.  
  
  
“What do _you_ care Carmilla?”  
  
The dark haired girl chuckled, “Man, is that your standard sentence now? **What do I care?** You know what, you are coming home with me now.”  
  
“You can’t order me to do anything. I’m older than you!”  
  
Carmilla quirked up an eyebrow, “You sure as hell aren’t acting like you are.”  
  
  
People were already looking at them. Sibling rivalry on display. Or something like that.  
  
  
“I’m staying!”, Laura stalked off outside onto the backyard, where some people were sitting and smoking around the pool. It was cold, boy was it. However the blonde needed some sort of victory. That was it. That was her victory. The brunette sighed deeply, her bottom lip quivering. She needed to cool down. God was that girl infuriating!  
  
  
  
  
“Hey Carmilla?”, Elsie was approaching the brunette, who had seated herself back on the armchair, where she had been sitting before the little incident with Laura. She had been there for the last thirty minutes, checking her instagram feed and busying herself with whatever. She couldn’t leave without Laura. She wouldn’t. “I’m going home with some of the girls… Are you going to be okay alone here?”  
  
“Yeah, I’m waiting for the princess to relent finally.”, she glared in the direction of where Laura was last seen.  
  
“I figured… Laura’s a little weird today, I must admit, but don’t bite her head off or anything.”, of course Elsie had seen the interaction.  
  
“Yeah…”  
  
“Thanks for coming here with me, you know?”  
  
“Sure! It was kind of fun. I needed that.”  
  
“See you in school on Monday?”  
  
“Yeah I’ll see you.”  
  
Elsie waved and caught up with her friends, who were already saying their goodbyes to Danny.  
  
  
  
Carmilla didn’t want to stay any longer either. So she decided to hijack the highness, if it was necessary. Where was Will, when he was needed? She could’ve sworn that he had mentioned something about this party weeks ago. The brunette got Laura’s and her own jacket from the rack by the entrance and made it to the doors that led to the backyard.  
  
  
When the dark haired girl stepped outside in the cold December air, she saw something she wasn’t fond of at all. There the blonde was, snuggled into a blanket and taking a drag of a cigarette some random girl had offered her.  
  
  
“Are you fucking kidding me?!”, Carmilla lunged forwards and plucked the cigarette away, stepping on it to extinguish the death stick.  
  
“Are _you_ fucking kidding me?”, Laura glared, “That was a perfectly good cigarette!”  
  
“We are going home now!!!”, this time Carmilla grabbed her stepsister by her arm and dragged her with her.  
  
“Carmilla!”, the blonde complained, “Carmilla!”, the brunette wouldn’t have it, they were almost at her car, “You are hurting me!”  
  
Just in that moment the dark haired girl loosened the grip on Laura, and went the last remaining steps to her car’s passenger’s side.  
  
  
“Good! Do you know how much I worried for you in there? That some douche would have his way with you?”  
  
“Why? Are you jealous now?”, Laura bobbed her head in a mockery manner, “It was just harmless flirting.”  
  
“Yeah? I saw something else…”, Carmilla opened the door, “Now get in there, I won’t have this conversation again, we are going home.”  
  
Laura surprisingly obeyed.  
  
  
Carmilla shut the door loudly and huffed out a breath, leaning her forehead against the cool window and closing her eyes. That girl was driving her insane. Honest to god insane. How could someone be so oblivious? The dark haired girl threw their jackets onto the backseat, before going to her side of the car.  
  
Laura observed the other girl from inside. Carmilla took some steps back and what seemed like kicked her own car. Why was _she_ so enraged? Had she worried about her that much? She wasn’t allowed to. Carmilla had been at the party with Elsie.  
  
  
  
“Buckle yourself in.”, Carmilla ordered in a much more controlled voice, not looking at Laura, when stepping into her car.  
  
“Already did.”  
  
The brunette started her motor and drove in direction of their house.

  
Suddenly Laura realized, “Where’d you leave your girlfriend?”  
  
“What?”, Carmilla stopped her car, she really stopped on the middle of the street (it had been late, so she wasn’t blocking anyone).  
  
“Where’s Elsie?”  
  
“How many more times do I have to tell you that there is **nothing** going on between Elsie and I?”  
  
“Didn’t seem like it to me.”  
  
“Yeah? Because you are a good judge for what is going on or not, huh?”  
  
Laura had her eyebrows risen, “What? What did I not get the right way? You and Elsie are practically inseparable!”  
  
“We happen to be really good friends.”  
  
“Yeah? You fuck all your friends?”  
  
“ **Laura!** ”, this was the first time the blonde didn’t like the sound of her name out of Carmilla’s mouth. It was said with so much… Boldness. “What is your fucking problem? When I tell you Elsie and I aren’t together, it is the truth. I don’t care, if you don’t believe me or not, but I do care for the _why_. Why are you so obsessed with us?”  
  
“I am not obsessed!” Totally not obsessed at all. Far from that. Yeah, right.  
  
Carmilla was continuing the drive home, “If you say so.”  
  
  
She couldn’t figure her out. Honestly, Laura was too much to handle. And **now** was definitely not the time to talk about what the blonde had said some hours ago.  
  
  
  
Laura had time to cool off. Like ten minutes (that was how long the drive home was). When Carmilla killed off her engine, and made an attempt to get out of her car, her stepsister stopped her with a hand on her right arm.  
  
“Carm…”, she immediately let go, when she saw how skeptical the brunette was eying her hand (or rather its position anywhere near herself), “Are you really not together with Elsie?”  
  
Out of all the questions, Carmilla hadn’t expected this one.  
  
“No, I swear.”, she wasn’t mad or angry. She said it in a pretty calm voice. She was just wondering, why Laura was so fixated on that. She could not have been jealous, because that would have meant... No, she absolutely was not jealous.  
  
“Okay… That’s good… That’s really… Well not good in a haa!-you-don’t-deserve-to-be-happy-way, but good as in, you know... Like...” Carmilla frowned, when the blonde shook her head and chuckled, “I’m sorry. For the ramble and for _earlier_...”, she said sincerely.  
  
“It’s okay… I guess?”, the brunette just couldn’t be mad at her. _What the hell?_ How deep was she in? Just moments ago she wanted to rip Laura’s head off. That pretty, beautiful- _Oh god._ “Let’s not hole up in here. We have a nice, warm home awaiting for us.”, the dark haired girl stepped out of the car finally, her stepsister doing the same.  
  
  
  
  
They both ascended the stairs, a little lost in thoughts. When the two girls reached their separate rooms, they awkwardly stood there for some seconds, before Laura asked another question that she has had in her mind after the most recent revelation.  
  
  
“ **Why** aren’t you and Elsie together? I mean, you find her attractive, that much you admitted.”  
  
Carmilla looked up with what seemed like a look of disbelief, “I already told you. I swear to god, if this is your attempt to get us together again-”  
  
“No, it’s not... Besides, you just told me that you weren’t together. Not why you aren’t.”  
  
The brunette shook her head, “No, I mean, I told you before all of _this_ happened.” _I told you I was into you. How much more do you want?_  
  
Laura looked at her in confusion.  
  
  
How many more times did she need Carmilla to say **it**? It was mortifying enough the first time, when Laura had rejected her shortly after.  
  
  
Carmilla bit her bottom lip, studying Laura’s face. She genuinely still thought that the brunette hadn’t meant what she had said. She hadn’t believed her, when Carmilla had said that she was into her. However then the dark haired girl remembered, she had spent the night with Elsie shortly after her rejection, mostly to cure her broken heart, but also to drive Laura crazy. That was no noble thing to do. No wonder that the blonde was a little confused. Well, there was only one way to show something you don’t wanna repeat over and over again.  
  
  
“Oh fuck it.”  
  
  
Carmilla stepped into Laura’s space, cradled her head in what should be a sweet gesture, looked her deep in the eyes, searching for reluctance or disdain or whatever, but when nothing came other than the initial shock, the brunette leaned in and placed the gentlest of kisses on those slightly chapped lips (yep, the cold did that to you). Plus on the side note: the taste of cigarettes was a little gross. However it was Laura.  
  
  
“ **That’s** why I am not with Elsie.”, is all Laura heard, when her lips were not attached to the ones of her stepsister anymore.


	13. Conviction

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Who do you really have a crush on?”

“ **That’s** why I am not with Elsie.”, Carmilla whispered against Laura’s lips, when she broke away.  
  
_What the fuck did I just do?_  
  
It was a mistake, a freaking huge one, as Carmilla realized. She attempted to take a step back (or several, actually), but was held back. Laura had a vice-like grip on her wrist and urged her to stay. Urged her for once not to drop a bomb like that and run off (to someone else, for instance like she had done the last time).  
  
“I’m sorry.”, the brunette apologized for maybe overstepping any boundaries or whatever.  
  
Laura shook her head and met Carmilla’s gaze. She was not disgusted or appalled by the contact. Her hazel eyes shortly flickered to the dark haired girl’s lips. They just stood there, in each other’s space, relishing the somewhat intimate contact. Each for a different reason.  
  
Carmilla, because she wanted nothing more than being close to the other girl, and Laura, because she needed it for assurance, she needed conviction. To convince herself maybe that yes, indeed Carmilla was so into her. ( ~~More like she needed to see it for herself that she was too.~~ Maybe.)  
  
Suddenly a door was opened and both took some steps back and looked to the source of the noise. Some girl was coming out of Will’s bedroom.  
  
  
“Oh... Don’t mind me, I’m just gonna…”, the blonde that had emerged, grinned and walked past them, and down the stairs.  
  
  
Both of the girls that were almost dying out of an heart attack, were startled again, when Will decided to leave his room as well.  
  
  
“There you are, you asshat! What happened with you going to the party?!”, Carmilla asked the boy, who was on his way to the kitchen downstairs.  
  
“Oh…”, he looked from his twin to his stepsister, “Let's just say I found _someone_ that I’d rather spend the night with…”  
  
Laura bit her lip. She wasn’t entirely sure, but from how he acted, it looked like he wanted to avoid her. At least his advances had ended, however Laura felt bad for him. Well, not _that_ bad, because clearly he still was a douche bag, but still…  
  
When Will finally disappeared at the staircase, the blonde cast Carmilla a small smile, “Uhm... I think, I should uhm…”, she trailed off, pointing to her own bedroom door.  
  
“Oh…?”, well, the brunette much rather would have talked _it_ (whatever **it** was) out right away, but seeing her brother lurking around and the fact that Laura still was a little intoxicated, made her think about it twice, “Yeah... Uhm you should…”  
  
Laura nodded in her direction and slipped through the door. She leaned her back into it, once it was closed and exhaled deeply. _Holy Hufflepuff._  
  
Carmilla lingered in the hallway for a little while longer, before also getting into her room. _What the creeping hell was that?_

 

***

  
It was a Saturday. Veronica was absentmindedly making herself a cup of coffee in the kitchen, when Laura came in.  
  
“Good morning Laura, how was the party last night?”, she asked interested.  
  
“Good morning. Uhm, it was great. Totally cool. Uneventful mostly.”  
  
“Yeah?”  
  
“Yeah. Where’s my dad?”  
  
“Oh he ran by the office early in the morning. Something important, I guess.”, Veronica smiled and turned to the Nespresso.  
  
“Huh…”, the blonde poured herself some cereal into a bowl.  
  
“Will is gone too, for the whole day, so I guess it’s just us girls today. What did you want to have for lunch?”  
  
“Oh why don’t we let Carm decide?”, Laura wasn't so good with making decisions.  
  
“Sure… If our highness graces us with her presence… It is 9 am.”, Veronica was shaking her head disapprovingly, when taking the first sip of her espresso.  
  
  
Suddenly it hit Laura, “Did Will say something to you? Or did he seem weird?”  
  
Veronica frowned, “What do you mean?”  
  
“Well he might have developed a… _Crush_ on me, and I kind of rejected him at the-“  
  
Laura’s stepmother choked on her coffee, “He **what**?”  
  
“Well it’s just silly, really, but-“  
  
“I will talk to him. This is inappropriate. You are siblings. He is your brother.”  
  
Laura made a weird face. That would make Carmilla her... **Ew.**  
  
  
“Technically we are **not** related.”, the blonde had a valid argument there.  
  
“You aren’t by blood, but this is still distasteful, don’t worry I will talk to him…”, Veronica made her way to her study and prepare something for work.  
  
  
_Yikes._  
  
  
  
  
Carmilla was a long sleeper in the weekends. Usually. Like on those days, where she hadn’t kissed her forever crush. Or on days that weren’t full of those gross feelings. The dark haired girl was resting on one side and facing the door. Laura was on the other side of the narrow hallway. She could hear _her_. Rummaging around in her room or going to the bathroom- their shared one. So close, and yet so far.  
  
After her phone indicated her that it was a little past 11 she finally managed to drag her lazy body out of the bed and into the washroom, to get herself into a somewhat presentable state. She became much more aware of herself. Weird, when did that become a thing?  
  
Carmilla had showered and put on ripped jeans combined with a black t-shirt, before making her way downstairs to the kitchen to help herself to some food. Her quest for something edible ended, when she heard a voice behind her. _Her voice._ At least the jar of Nutella didn’t fall out of her hand.  
  
  
“Don’t you dare eating too much now. Your mom’s out to buy groceries and we are getting a home cooked meal today.”  
  
It was _her_. The dark haired girl stilled in her movements, not turning around.  
  
“I was just uhm... Making myself a slice of toast with Nutella.”  
  
There were some slow, careful steps to be heard and suddenly Laura was resting her upper body on the counter beside her and eying her movements. Carmilla grew self-conscious.  
  
  
“What?”, she asked with a tiny smile, eying Laura sidewards (but not for too long).  
  
“Will you make me one too?”  
  
Carmilla chuckled, “Of course sweetheart.”, the brunette wanted to smack herself mentally, “I mean... Well, uh, **not** sweetheart…”  
  
Laura giggled, oh what a delightful sound that was. “Less talking, more smearing.”  
  
“Oh aren't we bossy?”, the dark haired girl let out rather lowly.  
  
  
After she was done with one slice, Carmilla handed it to Laura.  
  
“No, no that’s yours. I’ll take the next one.”, the blonde laid it down on a plate.  
  
“Creampuff, that absolutely makes no sense, because I am busy smearing the next one, you can eat it, it’s fine.”  
  
Laura picked up the piece of bread, but instead of taking a bite, she held it in front of Carmilla’s mouth, “Or I could just feed you.”  
  
The brunette sighed, finally turning her head a little and looking Laura directly into her eyes. The sun was shining through the big kitchen window and brought out the more golden hues of Laura’s irises.  
  
Sun meets sun. What a magnificent glow they both were creating.  
  
“This is ridiculous, you know that right? I’ll have the other slice finished in no time. I would have it by now actually, if you weren’t distracting me with your feeding advances.” _Or with your presence._  
  
Laura shrugged, eyes darting to the toast that she was still holding in her hand in front of the brunette’s mouth. Carmilla rolled her eyes, before finally taking a bite and humoring the girl in the process. After the dark haired girl had done that, Laura took a bite off it too.  
  
“Hey! That’s supposed to be my toast!”, Carmilla complained.  
  
“Oh aren’t we possessive?”, the blonde mimicked Carmilla from some minutes ago. The brunette smiled goofily. **Ew.** _Less swooning, more smearing._  
  
  
This was good. They both had pictured how the next day would be after their shared kiss in the previous night, but this was perfect. Friendly, partly flirty (when did that happen to be so easy?). There were still unsaid words between them, but for now Laura finally knew, how the other girl actually had meant everything and it was enough.  
  
  
“You have no idea, just how possessive I can be with the things that are dear to me…”, Carmilla said huskily and for the first time noticed the brownish creme-like substance on Laura’s upper lip.  
  
Yep, just like in the movies. She was bound to stare. And Laura was bound to notice, so she licked over that spot. Clearly not being successful in getting it all away. Could it be any more provocative?  
  
  
“Yeah? So... Nutella is something you count to the things that are dear to you?”  
  
Carmilla swallowed thickly, and nodded, her eyes flickering down to those inviting lips. She just couldn’t lean down and do it? Could she? She decided that she could. Laura hadn’t stopped her the night before and she was the one to initiate the first two kisses.  
  
Plus there oddly had been no awkwardness- and Carmilla was thinking too much, so instead she let go of the butter knife that she was holding in her right, and the jar of hazelnut-y goodness in the other, and grabbed Laura by her waist (the blonde too oblivious for what was about to happen yelped out of surprise). Carmilla stopped for a second, to await any complaints, but then only saw, how Laura got the hint and held completely still, so the brunette leaned in and placed a ghost of a kiss on her stepsister’s mouth.  
  
That kiss wasn’t even considered one. That’s what most probably Laura thought too, because she suddenly reached forwards, got ahold of the cotton fabric of Carmilla’s t-shirt and yanked her forwards to meet her lips again. And again. And again, until she was lifted up the counter, not once did they break apart in the process. If anything, they melted together more.  
  
The blonde was pulling on soft, brown, partly wet hair and Carmilla was tracing patterns on Laura’s thigh or here and there pushing away some loose strands of blonde hair that got into their way, whenever one angled her head in a way, so that the other could slip in a tongue. (Very complicated technique there.)  
  
Good thing that Carmilla’s mother wasn’t home. Or anyone else actually. No one to distract. Except she could be in any minute and that would be a catastrophe. Especially since she had told Laura how distasteful a relationship with Will (or someone like him) would be. This surely also applied to Carmilla, plus the biggest problem yet remained the fact that her sexuality still was a secret.  
  
Laura stopped Carmilla’s roaming hands with her own, and broke away. “Wait, wait, wait…”, she panted and tried to catch her breath.  
  
The brunette’s heart was racing. _Fuck. Fuck. Fuck._ That was like the best feeling ever, but Laura stopping her like that? Not so great. She immediately went for the _‘I'm sorry’_.  
  
Laura shook her head instantly and leaned her forehead onto the other girl’s.  
  
“This... You... You don’t have to apologize for _that_... It’s just... Your mom’s coming home any minute and she probably wouldn’t like to walk in on this scenario.”  
  
Carmilla was relieved to hear the explanation of why exactly Laura had stopped her, “Yeah, she doesn’t like anyone sitting on the counter.”, she joked and the blonde rolled her eyes on her, before jumping off the kitchen furniture.

 _Steady your heart beat with steady breaths._  
  
Both girls failed to do exactly that.  
  
  
  
  
“Your choice was a good one, Carm. Your mom’s meat loaf really is great.”, Laura was shoving another bite down her throat.  
  
“Were there ever any doubts?”, Veronica asked, while looking at the both girls in surprise.  
  
Laura laughed, “Sorry, didn’t wanna sound like I don’t trust you.”  
  
“Well isn’t that something new?”, the blonde’s stepmother regretted it the moment she said it. Laura pressed her lips together and averted her gaze to her plate.  
  
_Ouch._  
  
Carmilla cleared her throat, “Well, where is Greg?”, way to save the situation.  
  
“He called half an hour ago, telling me that he’d be home by dinner. He had to go to the office for some urgent conference call or something.”, the eldest woman at the table said, “Actually, I will be leaving soon too. I will meet up with a close friend of mine on the board. We have some pressing matters to discuss concerning Silas High…”  
  
“Pressing matters? Should I worry?”, Laura asked cautiously. She was on the school committee after all.  
  
“Not at all, it’s only finances!”  
  
“How long will you be gone?”, Carmilla asked her mother.  
  
“Just for a couple of hours.”, she looked at the two girls that were sitting opposite to each other and sharing looks, “You girls won’t kill each other or something, right?”  
  
Laura faked a smile (why though?) “What? We are totally cool. Getting along just perfectly!” A little _too well_ \- not that she was complaining.  
  
“Shut up, you spaz. You sound like you are lying.”, Carmilla smirked at her stepsister and cocked up an eyebrow.  
  
“Well at least _you_ two get along…”, Veronica sighed and made her way to the kitchen with her plate.  
  
  
“What did she mean by that?”, Carmilla frowned in Laura’s direction.  
  
“Oh just... I might have talked to her about Will.”  
  
“What is it with asshat? Did he do something gross to you? I swear to god, if-”  
  
Laura shook her head, “No Carm, it’s not like that. At the dance Will and I got into talking and I told him I wasn’t interested in him, because... I like someone else and he-”  
  
  
“Who do you like?”, Veronica was stepping into the dining space again.  
  
Carmilla, who was wondering the same thing too (could it be her?), was looking at Laura expectantly. The blonde had swallowed her tongue, as it seemed, so her stepsister helped her out.  
  
“Creampuff over here has a crush on some douche that works at Target.”, was the best lie she could come up with. Laura looked at her wide-eyed and in a _‘Couldn't you have come up with something better?!’_ way.  
  
“Oh…”, the older woman looked at her stepdaughter, knitting together her brows, “That is just… Uhm, I’m sure, it is fleeting ... Well, I better get ready, I have to get going soon.”, Veronica announced and made her way to the stairs.  
  
  
  
Laura and Carmilla brought their dishes to the dishwasher and surprisingly the dark haired girl helped with cleaning the rest of the kitchen.  
  
“So…”, the brunette drawled, “Who do you really have a crush on?”  
  
Laura rolled her eyes, “No one. I just said that to Will so he would leave me alone.”, she lied. Well, not really. Okay, she was lying a little. She totally was having a pico-crush (or even micro-crush) on her stepsister.  
  
Carmilla nodded her head, “Is he at least trying to respect that?”, the brunette asked, while placing the plates into the dishwasher, after Laura successfully got rid of anything that the machine wouldn’t be able to wash off.  
  
“He is, surprisingly. I mean, haven’t you seen him ignore me last night?”  
  
Carmilla shook her head, “No, actually I was thinking about _something else_ entirely when he walked in on- _well you know_ …”, they locked their gazes, when Veronica spoke from behind them and startled them.  
  
  
“I’ll be out, you can reach me on my phone, if you need anything and don’t burn down the house or anything, Carmilla!”  
  
“Ha, ha! That only was funny last year!”, the dark haired girl called after her mother. Laura fell into a fit of giggles, “Oh _you_ shut up, don’t you have homework to do?”, she mocked, as she looked in Laura’s direction.  
  
“Pfff, it is a Saturday afternoon. Since when do you think about homework on weekends?”  
  
“What do you suggest I think about then?”, Carmilla quirked up an eyebrow. Laura could have sworn that the brunette’s voice had changed to one with a sultry quality to it. What the freaking hell was happening?  
  
Laura felt the air around them change, there was much more tension between them now. She couldn’t just make out with Carmilla again, could she? They still had to talk about things and… _Okay, seriously the hell with it._  
  
All the factors that were against it aside, there was a dark haired goddess looking at her, like she might eat her alive… So… Laura let her libido win over that inner battle. She approached the brunette, plastering a faux innocent expression to match her devilish mind, and pouted, almost as if  she were really thinking of something to answer her stepsister’s question.  
What she really was thinking of, was the way Carmilla’s left eyebrow arched, and how sexy that was. Or the way the brunette would click her tongue, whenever she was being cocky or the way she smirked, _oh yes_. That was her most favorite thing about Carmilla.  
  
“Creampuff, did someone swallow your tongue whole or what?”, the brunette spoke with that raspy voice again.  
  
Laura increased the proximity between them, “You’re pretty.”  
  
Carmilla’s eyes widened in surprise, “Why thank you cutie. Same.”  
  
“Same _what_?”  
  
“You’re pretty too.”  
  
Laura scoffed, “Come up with something else, don’t copy me.”  
  
_Challenge accepted._  
  
“Well… I could tell you that you are hot as hell. I could even tell you that you’re beautiful or I could simply tell you that you sweep me off my feet, whenever I look at you too closely, because every single thing about you seems to be made out to be a piece of perfection.”  
  
Wow. Just wow, she hadn’t expected that to be Carmilla’s answer. Laura smiled, shyly and it was very brief, before she nervously shifted from one foot to the other. She went for it. The blonde took the remaining steps she had to take in order to stand right in front of her stepsister.  
  
What Carmilla had said was sincere. She had meant it. However that didn’t mean that Laura was appreciating it the right way. It seemed like the blonde wasn’t even grasping, how much the words meant to Carmilla, how she had never said anything resembling to that to anyone else. So Carmilla did, what she was good at. Distracting from her own emotions and feelings. She was not someone who felt after all. That was her reputation, right? And whatever Laura was doing with her, she surely wasn’t doing it, because she felt the same way. Laura wanted her for the seductress in her. Oh, and Carmilla would give it to her, if it only meant that she was getting her sun- even if it was for a short period of time.  
  
The brunette put on her perfectly trained-on smirk and cocked up an eyebrow, before talking, “So are you gonna kiss me now or what? Chances are that my mother’s not gonna take the whole day…”  
  
Laura rushed forwards and did, as expected. She kissed the dark haired girl, with so much vigor, to convey her message. Never had anyone said anything like that to her. She wanted to show Carmilla, how much she appreciated those words. It backfired of course, without her even knowing, because her stepsister safely tucked it away as evidence for Laura only wanting her for her body and some nice compliments. Who wouldn’t want to make out with someone hot that had a huge crush on them? Good for the ego.  
  
The blonde ran her tongue on the length of Carmilla’s mouth, tracing out those lips that made out the most attractive smirk on earth. Ugh, how sexy could a pair of lips be? Just in that moment Laura thought about how inconvenient their current location was. Everyone was out, but for how long was the question. She just wanted to explore this (just maybe she was thinking of Carmilla’s mouth too intently) without having the fear of getting caught, so she had an idea…  
  
  
“Upstairs…”, Laura whispered in-between kisses, before Carmilla pressed her lips to hers again.  
  
“What?”, the brunette asked, before indulging into a few more, her hand resting on Laura’s cheek to stabilize her in a way she wanted.  
  
“Let’s go into your room…”, there she had it. Conviction. Carmilla was just waiting for that. It really was only about sex. The dark haired girl untangled herself from her stepsister and leaned away a bit. She looked into those eyes. Those eyes that looked so innocent. _Yeah right._ “Race you…”, Laura snickered and ran off to the staircase and quickly took hurried steps.  
  
Carmilla stood there, locking her jaw and closing her eyes. She took a steadying breath, making a fist, to brace herself. She wanted this. She had wanted Laura for a long time. She didn’t feel. She could do this without feeling. It was all good.

  
“You coming, or what?”, Laura’s muffled voice got to her.  
  
“Buckle up, creampuff.”, the brunette let out loud enough for the other girl to hear.  
  
Laura giggled in response. How innocent she sounded. What a good actress she was. _Laura Hollis, everyone._

Except she wasn’t, and it was Carmilla’s turn to be the oblivious one for once. Who’d have thunk that the sun would ever turn to face the moon?


	14. Misunderstanding

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “You don’t know anything about me.”

Carmilla was sitting at her usual table in the dining hall, when a familiar redhead approached her.  
  
“Yo, Karnstein!”, LaF sat down across from her.  
  
The brunette looked up from the book she had in her hand, “What? Where’d your twin go?”  
  
“ **Ew!** Why would you call her that? I don’t mock you with your crush on _your stepsister._ ”, they whispered the last two words.  
  
Carmilla frowned, “Except, you do make fun of me.”  
  
LaFontaine smiled goofily, “Yeah, true… _Speaking of the devil_ …”, the science nerd cocked their eyebrows.  
  
“Huh?”, the dark haired girl didn’t understand.  
  
  
“Hey, Carm.”, oh now she understood. Carmilla turned to see Ms. Sunshine seating herself beside her, without even asking. The brunette placed her book on the table.  
  
  
“Yeah, why don’t you join us, Creampuff?”, Carmilla chuckled, but then stopped, when LaF squinted their eyes at them.  
  
“Did I do something wrong?”, Laura asked. She wasn’t even bothered a little that the redhead was sitting there. (She had overheard Carmillla with her friend after all. They knew everything probably. Except she didn’t know, that they only knew of the kiss at prom.)  
  
“What?”, Carmilla asked, looking to her left, where Laura was eying her food, while chewing.  
  
The blonde averted her gaze to her stepsister, “You have been avoiding me at school, at home, everywhere really… And I was just wondering…”, her eyes met LaFontaine’s for a short period of time (they were so enjoying this, and they made plans to squeeze information out of Carmilla, as soon as Laura wasn’t around, because there was _something_ …), “Ever since, _you know_ … You’ve been weird.”, oh LaF was fully listening.  
  
The dark haired girl frowned, “Uhm, no… I just… Was busy with school… I hate it, when they schedule every damn test right before the Christmas holidays.”  
  
“Yeah? Nothing else?”, Laura was finally in the stages of admitting that she might have developed some real crush-esque feelings towards Carmilla, but she needed to know, if said broody leather chick still felt the same way. Hopefully she did, those feelings couldn’t just evaporate into nothing right? She hoped so.  
  
“Nope, nothing else.”  
  
Laura turned her head to face Carmilla and looked her in the eyes, but she couldn’t read her, she bit her lip, “Wanna ride home together after school?”, she asked. She looked so damn cute and so adorable, but Carmilla couldn’t. Not since she knew… Not since _that_ day…  
  
“I can’t… I…”  
  
“We have science project together.”, LaF helped her out.  
  
“Right! Yes! We do…”  
  
Laura nodded, “Oh, okay.”, clearly disappointed, she picked through her food, before finally setting her fork aside, “So I’ll see you at home?”  
  
“Yes. Home.”, Carmilla nodded curtly, before the blonde stood up and took her tray with her.  
  
  
“What was that all about?”, LaFontaine whispered in their friend’s direction. Carmilla just shrugged. “Oh, don’t you dare **not** telling me. There is something going on between you two, I know it…”  
  
Carmilla rolled her eyes and threw her book into her backpack, before rising up and getting to class (even though it was too early for that). Of course LaF was on her heels and following her.  
  
  
“Tell me now, or I might follow you ’til you do.”  
  
“God… You are such a pain in the ass.”  
  
“Kaaarnsteeein.”  
  
“We kissed. I already told you.”, she hissed, don’t minding her step, when walking through the hallways of Silas High.  
  
“Duh, but what happened after? It’s been nearly two weeks, I know that there’s something juicy going on.”  
  
“Well we might have kissed a little more since that initial first kiss...”  
  
LaF smiled, “Yess! You got the girl!”  
  
Carmilla shook her head and led her best friend into an open (but empty) classroom, “Psht, it still is a secret and we are **not** together.”  
  
“Well duh, _not yet_. Karnstein, we both got the girl...”, they were enjoying this.  
  
“No, you don’t understand… Laura doesn’t want to be in a relationship…”  
  
LaF knit their brows together, “But you said… Wait, what?”  
  
“Laura… She… She’s just in for sex.”  
  
“She told you that?”, the redhead asked incredulously.  
  
“No, but common… Why would she want to be with me?”  
  
“Okay, there delusional Leatherpants… What happened with you guys? Tell me.”  
  
“We… Okay, so things happened after I got home after prom... It really is not important at all and pretty boring... However... Last weekend we were alone and…”  
  
LaF was tilting their head, “Aaaand?”  
  
The brunette groaned and told the story of how Laura and her were a little more than stepsisters, but still not in any kind of relationship. While talking about it, her thoughts uncontrollably went to the previous weekend.  
  
  
//  
  
  
“Buckle up, creampuff.”, Carmilla was ascending the stairs. Laura was waiting for her with a grin at the top stair.  
  
“Took you long enough…”, the blonde reached forwards, but the other girl dodged her attempted grip, and ran to her own room.  
  
“Come on cutie, you told me to race you and even with a head start you couldn’t manage to get there at first…”, Carmilla looked back to the hallway to see a frustrated face, that lit up the moment she winked at her.  
  
“There are no winners in this game…”, Laura was hot on her feet, closing her stepsister’s bedroom door.  
  
“Of course the _loser_ would say that.”  
  
“You are really mean.”, the blonde pouted.  
  
Carmilla let herself fall back on her bed, eying the ceiling, “Haven’t figured that out before? I thought I had the gloom and doom working for me… Bummer.”  
  
“Yeah, yeah… We all know that you are a huge freaking softie at heart…”, Laura smiled (even though the other girl couldn’t see it) and sat on the edge of Carmilla’s bed.  
  
Suddenly she was feeling nervous. She was about to make out with the brunette. Whoa there, her life was a full whirlwind. How (or better: when) had she developed those confusing feelings for Carmilla? They had been friends for what? Two months. And now they were swapping saliva here and there. Laura made a face of horror. She needed to work on terms to call _their_ … Okay, no she could not think about defining anything yet.  
  
  
“ _I thought you wanted to_ …”, Carmilla sat up and moved to the edge of the bed, where the blonde was sitting and eying the floor.  
  
Laura turned to face her, “Wow, you have good game going on there.”, she chuckled. _God, she is beautiful._  
  
Carmilla clicked her tongue, “But you want to kiss me anyway.”, she said smugly and leaned in to finally get **it** -whatever the hell would happen- over with. She never had thought that it would happen like this. (Not that she had ever imagined this would happen at all. It was all tucked away in her fantasy.)  
  
  
“Wait, _why_ do you think I want to kiss you?”  
  
“Because I’m good at it.”, Carmilla smirked and finally the blonde let her kiss her. Laura wanted to protest, tell her that **that** surely wasn’t the reason for her wanting to spend time together, for her wanting to be around her. She wanted to tell her stepsister how much she admired her for being so brutally honest, and for not giving up on her. For being patient with her, with her trying to figure all her feelings out, because Laura knew, how much of a piece of work she was.  
  
However all of it vanished, once Carmilla was kissing her senseless, and left her full of those feelings at the same time. God, she was slowly developing a huge crush on that girl that was now urging her to lie down on her back. Yes, making out, while lying was much more convenient.  
  
  
“You really **are** good at this.”, Laura affirmed, while the dark haired girl busied herself with her neck, “Watch it, people would grow curious, if you leave a mark.”  
  
Carmilla pulled back a little, to look the other girl in the eyes. She had avoided eye-contact most of the time, because looking at her made her weak. She was so weak already, she wasn’t allowed to fall in love more than she already was. Not that she loved her… Falling in love was just a term… She kept on telling herself that.  
  
“What’s wrong?”, Laura had caught onto the fact that Carmilla was holding back. She had barely kissed her. Hello, they were alone now… There was something that the dark haired girl wasn’t saying.  
  
“Nothing.” _Everything._  
  
_I am into you and you are probably only using me._  
  
  
  
“What did you actually think of the things I said at the dance? You never really commented on it.”, Laura asked out of the blue, while the brunette lay back and propped up an arm, to rest her head on her hand.  
  
“Uhm, it was nice.”  
  
Laura laughed out loud, “I knew, I was bad with speeches.”  
  
“No, no, it was really beautiful. What you said about the stars…”  
  
“I actually meant what I said about you.”  
  
“You mean how you told everyone, what a nice person I am?”  
  
The blonde frowned, “I didn’t say exactly _that_.”  
  
“But you meant that. Carmilla Karnstein everyone… The big sap that stares into the sky, searching for the stars.”  
  
“Except sometimes they are sitting right in front of you.”, Laura said absently. She was talking to herself. Carmilla had been in front of her this whole time. And she decided to ignore it. This beautiful, intelligent, genuinely good person at heart (even though she hated to admit it) had been right in front of her nose the whole time.  
  
“Aren’t you a little cocky today?” _No she isn’t. She is the sun_. Carmilla found that Laura had a right to refer to herself (which she was not even doing).  
  
“I didn’t mean it like _that_ , moron.”, she hit her stepsister with a pillow.  
  
“No? What did you mean then?”, Carmilla was directly looking at Laura. Her eyes radiated something indecipherable. She still hadn’t figured that girl out.  
  
  
“I’m glad that we aren’t fighting anymore.”, the blonde dodged the question.  
  
“We never were fighting.”  
  
“Well whatever _that_ was. I’m glad we came to senses and are acting like adults now.”, Laura was lying flat on her back, eyeing the ceiling. That was not how sex worked. Not at all.  
  
Carmilla had an answer to that, “Except all of that was _your_ fault…”, Laura turned to glare at the brunette, “And we are not adults. We are far from being adults.”  
  
“I am turning seventeen soon.”  
  
“Yeah, I know. In six days you’ll be seventeen and then?”  
  
Laura sat up in bed and looked down, “You know, when my birthday is?”  
  
“Yeah… You are the most popular girl in school. I did have a front row seat to all your dimwit friends showering you with gifts and serenades on your birthdays. Even my mother knows your birthday.” Carmilla just didn’t need to feel like a bigger idiot than she already was. Carmilla didn’t want to admit that she had known for two years now, when her birthday was. And that she wrote anonymous birthday cards to her. When she had been 14, and everyone sang for that silly, pretty 15 year old freshman girl, maybe, just maybe she had been singing in her mind with them. Back then she never would have imagined that she would find herself in that situation of course. Back then she was a cutie that looked good in those short skirts in summer. It was only since the previous year that her feelings had deepened that much.  
  
  
“Oh…”, Laura nodded, “That figures.”  
  
“What-”, Carmilla was interrupted in her question, when Laura’s phone rang.  
  
“Sorry…”, the blonde looked apologetically, before getting it out of her pants’ pocket picking up. Carmilla sat up too, and observed her stepsister. “Hello? Yeah, yeah... What? You are coming over now??”, her eyes went wide, before she met the brunette’s gaze. “Yeah no, it’s just Carm and I. We are alone… Okay, bye.”  
  
“Who was that?”  
  
“Danny.”  
  
Carmilla scoffed, “I take it the ginger giant is coming over?”  
  
“Yeah she wanted to talk to me about something. I still have to apologize to her anyway… So…”  
  
The dark haired girl pressed her lips together and nodded. Laura jumped off the bed and wanted to run out of the room, before she quickly spun around, leaning over the bed to give Carmilla a quick peck on the lips.  
  
  
“We should totally do this again…”, she grinned, as she broke away.  
  
“Talk?”, Carmilla asked.  
  
Laura smiled, there was a hint of something in the way her eyes lit up, “Talk… And… _You know_ …”, the blonde placed another kiss on the mouth of the other girl, “Other things.”  
  
“Creampuff, I really can’t think of anything like _that_ , now that you’ve mentioned Beanstalk.”  
  
“Rude!”, she giggled. Off she was in a heartbeat, humming some mainstream pop song to herself in her own bedroom, while trying to tidy up a bit for the coming guest.  
  
Yep, she was so just in for the _other things_.  
  
And Carmilla was so screwed, because she was in so deep that she couldn’t even hold herself together. So she made up a plan on avoiding her stepsister whenever she could in the following few days.  
  
  
//  
  
  
“She probably just wants to have her fun with me.”, Carmilla said, staring off into distance. _Other things. Other things. Other things_. What could she have meant by that other than...  
  
The redhead rolled their eyes, “Do I really need to tell you that you should probably have this conversation with _her_?”  
  
“Why? So I can make a fool of myself for ever considering that she could like me that way? **No.** ”  
  
“Woah there, Carmilla… Just because Ell fucked you up, doesn’t mean-”, they regretted the words immediately. Carmilla’s expression said it all.  
  
“ _Fuck you._ ”, the brunette left without any other word.  
  
  
“Yikes.”  
  
  
  
  
LaFontaine was waiting for their afternoon classes in the common room of Silas High, when Laura caught sight of them.  
  
“Hey… Didn’t you and Carmilla have a super special meeting after school?”  
  
“Oh… Uh… Hey…” _Busted._  
  
Laura rolled her eyes, “Let me guess. This was only her way of avoiding me?”  
  
LaF shrugged. They didn’t want to sell out their best friend, especially when she was pissed anyway.  
  
  
“I just don’t understand it… Did she say something to you?”, the blonde asked LaFontaine.  
  
“I’m sure she’s only busy with school stuff or something.”  
  
Laura was looking at the redhead in disbelief, “Right... We are talking about Carmilla here.”, she had a point there.  
  
“Look, I don’t know anything. You should just talk to her about it.”  
  
“Cut the crap, science nerd. I know that she told you about…”, Laura was checking her surroundings, there were some people that could catch up on things, so she lowered her voice, “ _The thing_ … You know that I like girls and you probably also know that there is something going on between us...”  
  
“Wait… She told you that she told me about you?”  
  
“No…”, the blonde shook her head, “I overheard your conversation last week at our house. I know that you guys talk about things.”  
  
“Oh… So you also heard that she is infinitely in love with you?”, LaF asked, as if it was the most normal thing in the world.  
  
“She is not-”, Laura caught herself, “Not the point… I just want to know if her feelings - _whatever they may be_ \- are still there.”  
  
“Well of course they are… And that’s exactly why I am not understanding, how you can be so cruel to her!”  
  
Laura frowned, “Wait, what are you even talking about?”  
  
LaF groaned, “You should really talk to her about this. You two are so infuriating!”  
  
“Does she think I am playing some sort of game? Is she really still hung on to that?”  
  
“Well you are not leaving her any choice! She confesses her love for you and you reject her and the moment she finds herself someone else you are all over her again and well she has been used enough.”  
  
“Used?”  
  
“Listen, I’m not sure how much you know of her past, but Carmilla’s first and last relationship wasn’t really peachy. Ell pulled some real screwed up shit with her, so you might wanna cut her some slacks for being insecure.”  
  
“Carmilla and _insecure_? Really?”, Laura scoffed.  
  
“She is. She seems like she is that super-badass smug chick, but she really isn’t. Carmilla is one of the most vulnerable people there are. She just doesn’t let in anyone easily and I think she is having trouble with you being all piney and whiney with her. She needs you to tell her exactly what you want, otherwise she might push you away.”  
  
Laura listened to every single said word. Those were new things presented to her. Seemed like she really didn’t know her stepsister that well after all. She had expected it of course, but Laura was still surprised just how good of an actor Carmilla was. Her walls were solid. The walls around her heart were built so high that no one ever dared to climb them.  
  
“I’ll keep that in mind… Thanks…”  
  
“No problem.”  
  
  
  
Laura was studying for her final test before Christmas break. Carmilla was right. Teachers were mean. Everything came together, but that freaking Maths test was the last one of that year and she wanted to have her freaking A and finally be released from the pain that was called ‘studying’. Maths tests on your birthday? Not cool at all.  
  
In-between solving problems, the blonde’s mind wandered to what LaFontaine had said to her about their best friend. They knew her well, didn’t they? And if they said that Carmilla needed Laura to tell her, what she really wanted, it was time for herself to figure out what she really wanted.  
  
She liked Carmilla that much she knew. She liked her as a friend, she liked her as her stepsister. Carmilla was caring, funny, beautiful -oh yeah that she was _definitely_. She was smug and all of that leather was really hot on her and she was just the kindest person on earth, when it came to her. Laura had watched her interact with others. She wasn’t like that to just anyone. Carmilla was different with her and she finally saw that. It was not only her wanting to get into her pants- which ridiculous, yes, now Laura finally had seen, how gentle she actually was with her. And respectful. Yeah that. Even though she had made some inappropriate comments, it was all before... Before Laura had given her some hope and now she just needed Carmilla to see it. That girl that was genuinely sweet, because she cared about Laura. Carmilla already had admitted her feelings towards the blonde.  
  
  
  
“Keep up the studying and heavy thinking. It looks sexy on you.”, Carmilla was leaning coolly on Laura’s doorframe.  
  
The blonde jumped a little, before turning to see her stepsister lingering by her door, “Woah there, you scared me.”  
  
The brunette chuckled, moving to sit on Laura’s bed. The blonde turned around in her revolving chair and waited for Carmilla to talk. It was weird. She knew that the dark haired girl was avoiding her, but her walking into her room… It just didn’t fit.  
  
  
Carmilla played with a loose string on her ripped jeans, “Do you have time?”  
  
“Uhm, sure, what’s up?”  
  
“It’s your birthday tomorrow…”  
  
Laura chuckled, “Yes, I know. Thanks Carm, for reminding me.”  
  
“Well… I…”, she clearly was struggling to get words out. Carmilla Karnstein not being able to speak coherently? Only _one_ person could do that.  
  
Laura grew impatient. Which was probably the worst thing to do, when Carmilla had been nothing but patient with her, but she just couldn’t hold it in anymore, “Why are you here, Carm? Are you done avoiding me now or is this just weird stuttering a try in making me feel like you are not keeping your distance? Because I’m many things, but **I am not dumb**.”  
  
“What? I never said you are dumb. I am not really avoiding you...”  
  
“Don’t you even try to hide it.”, the blonde warned.  
  
“I am not- _Jeez_ …”  
  
“I talked to LaFontaine. They told me about Ell and how she had a-”  
  
Carmilla looked up to be met by a pair of gentle eyes, but her own expression was anything but gentle.  
  
“What?! You ran off and talked to my friends about me?”  
  
“No, I just wanted to know what was up with you, and side note: you telling your friend about me wasn’t a cool move either, but I’m not up in your space, because I get it, you needed someone to talk to. Just like I needed to hear it from them, because you obviously aren’t wo-man enough to confront me with whatever it is that’s going on in your head.”  
  
Carmilla was standing and shaking her head, while simultaneously laughing, it sounded bitter, “You have no fucking right to complain about me. You have _no fucking right._ You don’t know anything about me.”  
  
“Yeah, and whose fault is that exactly, hm?”  
  
  
“Fuck you. I don’t need this.”, Carmilla stormed off.  
  
  
Laura stood up, and wanted to run after her. She could just do it, however she was too proud for that. She knew that she had her own fault in all of this, but this was Carmilla. She needed to cool down.  
  
  
“This birthday’s just starting off right.”, Laura eyed the picture of her mother that was placed neatly next to her laptop and let her head meet the surface of her desk.


	15. Falling

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “What do you think you are to me?”

It was a regular Friday. Except it wasn’t. Carmilla hadn’t slept well in the night. The argument with Laura was still in her mind. She knew that Laura was right to some extent, but who was she to talk about Ell? Who was she to even dare to talk about things she knew nothing about?  
  
It didn’t help that it was Laura’s birthday.  
  
She had wanted to ask the blonde little Ms. Sunshine, if she wanted to watch a movie together. Which would have sounded like an invite to a date, but she hadn’t cared. Carmilla was going to ask her nonetheless, but Laura of course had made that impossible, when she started to interrogate her.  
  
What did she even care, if Carmilla was avoiding her? What did she even care for any of that? The brunette couldn’t help, but wonder. And now? She was running late, because Laura was in the bathroom and usually she would just barge in and brush her teeth, while the blonde got ready, it had become their thing -sort of- however with the avoiding and stuff… Carmilla just didn’t know, how to act around the birthday girl. Especially since the previous night.  
  
  
  
  
“Happy birthday!”, Danny and Kirsch were grinning at the tiny blonde, who groaned.  
  
“Don’t remind me.”  
  
“Someone’s cheerful.”, the tall redhead noticed.  
  
“I just had the hardest freaking test in Maths. Why did someone come up with incorporating letters into the system? Numbers are hard enough on their own.”  
  
“Dude! I know, we had the test two days ago. My head exploded.”  
  
Laura was eying her friend’s boyfriend sceptically, “Yeah, but you don’t aim for an A.”  
  
“True… I live for the D!”  
  
Danny and Laura started laughing furiously, while the poor guy didn’t understand what he said to make them cackle like chicken.  
  
“Alright, don’t say that out too loud or people might get the wrong idea.”, Danny grinned, “But at least grumpy pants did laugh.”  
  
“Dude, not cool! What’d I say?”  
  
Laura shook her head, “Nevermind. _I know, you like your Ds_ …”, she winked.  
  
“Oh! We forgot to give you your present!”, Danny looked at Kirsch, who just then got the hint and handed over a paper bag, “Just a little something from both of us!”  
  
“Thanks you guys, it really wasn’t necessary…”  
  
“You say that every year, but we still always get each other gifts… Plus it’s partly a Christmas gift too… Open it later... When all of us get together.”  
  
Laura spread her arms to envelop both of her friends in a big group hug.  
  
  
  
  
Carmilla was sitting in the living room, staring at everything and nothing at the same time. Just as she was about to get up and let her blankets swallow her whole in her bed, Greg was walking in excitedly.  
  
“Carmilla! Dear! Just the girl I was looking for, come with me now.”  
  
“What in the name of…?”  
  
“Come on!”, the man gestured her to follow him and she did as she was told.  
  
  
They went outside and Greg was looking at her expectantly. They were looking at a car in their driveway. A car that didn’t belong there.  
  
“What is it?”, the brunette asked and shrugged.  
  
“It’s a car.”  
  
“I can see that, but why did you want to show it to me?”  
  
“Well. It’s Laura’s. I got it for her birthday… I thought you’d be more excited. You don’t have to take her to school with you anymore.”  
  
Carmilla approached the compact car, “She doesn’t ride with me that often anyway.” Partly because of herself, “And I don’t mind taking her…”  
  
“Really? Laura said something else a few days ago.”, Greg said slowly, while looking at his stepdaughter.  
  
Carmilla met his gaze, “What did she say exactly?”, her voice was small. Did their lack of spending time together affect the blonde so much?  
  
“That she thinks that it bothers you, and well she is right. She has a licence and I just was worried for her, but she has it for a year now and I think she can be entrusted with a car now. Do you think she’ll like it?”  
  
The dark haired girl felt horrible. She had made Laura think that she was bothering her. Laura, who she cared for. Laura, who she loved doing things for.  
  
“She’ll love it.”, Carmilla commented and stepped back into the house without another word.  
  
  
  
  
Laura’s friends all insisted on a small gathering after school to give her their birthday gifts and to eat pie at their favorite coffee place.  
  
  
“How does it feel to be 17?”, Kirsch asked, as he shoved down yet another bite of cherry pie into his mouth.  
  
“You would know, wouldn’t you?”, Laura stuck out her tongue. Kirsch had to repeat tenth grade, so he was one year older than anyone.  
  
“Way uncool bro.”  
  
  
“SJ, Nat, you are both such assholes!”, Laura laughed as she unwrapped a collection of the Twilight books.  
  
“What? You liked those books back then. And we thought for the nostalgia’s sake…”, Sarah Jane spoke with a wide grin.  
  
Laura was cocking her eyebrows, “ **Liked**. I was ten, when I read them.”  
  
“I remember! That’s what we three bonded about.”, Natalie laughed, “Oh common, this way you’ll have us in your heart forever.”  
  
“Mhm, you are both such dorks.”  
  
“No one beats our gift though!”, Kirsch exclaimed and leaned his head on his girlfriend’s shoulder.  
  
Danny shoved him away, “Get off me, you stink. Haven’t you showered after football practice?”  
  
“Dude, you guys were rushing me! Didn’t have the time!”  
  
“ **Ew! Kirsch!!!** ”, everyone at the table shared disgusted faces.  
  
“Your gift is cool too, yes. I love the soccer jersey you guys had made for me.”, the blonde smiled.  
  
  
She looked around the table. Everyone was there with their partner. Even SJ had managed to snag one of the hockey players, Natalie had her boyfriend since summer, Kirsch and Danny were practically inseparable and Laura? She wished, she would have someone, who would hold her like that, who she could lean on, while eating pie, who she could share pie with. (Okay, maybe not someone like Kirsch, because he obviously was not someone, who could share.)  
  
  
“Are you gonna be alright?”, Danny asked her best friend, as they all made their ways home.  
  
“Yeah, my dad told me, he would pick me up.”, Laura smiled, holding onto the gift bags and one paper bag that held a piece of pie.  
  
“I meant something else… You are happy right?”  
  
The blonde broke into a smile that only few knew to be fake (Danny unfortunately counted to those people that knew her enough, but she didn’t comment on it.), “Of course I am. Thanks for the lovely time with you guys.”  
  
“Sure thing Hollis… Have fun with your father.”  
  
  
  
  
“Carmilla dear?”, it was Greg again. Seriously, what did that man want all the time? The brunette stood up and opened her bedroom door.    
  
“Yeah?”  
  
“Could you pick up Laura?”  
  
“What?”  
  
“I have an urgent meeting at the office and they just let me know last minute.”  
  
Carmilla looked at him in bewilderment, “Greg, it’s _her birthday_.”  
  
“I know, and I really feel sorry, but-”  
  
“No. You won’t have to feel sorry, if you just for once decide to be there for your daughter. God, it seems like ever since you married into our family, you count on us to be there for her. I mean, I like being there for Laura, I really do, it’s not a big deal, but you are her father for god’s sake and she is looking forward to this! We all scheduled our family dinner on Sunday, so that you guys could have some alone time together, please don’t take that away from her.”  
  
Greg looked ashamed, “Gosh, you are right.”  
  
“Yeah… And you are late, you better hurry.”  
  
“Uh… Thanks.”, he said awkwardly and hurried down the steps.  
  
  
  
  
“How was your little gathering with your friends?”, Greg asked his daughter, after they had finished desert. He still was impressed with Laura’s love for sweet things. She could probably eat the whole desert menu for dinner.  
  
“It was nice. We ate pie.”  
  
Greg laughed, “Of course you did. My little sweetie pie cannot resist sugar.”  
  
“What did you do all day?”, Laura saw, how her father had checked his phone here and there. It didn’t bother her, she knew that he was a busy man, but still she caught onto such things. Especially when this was the first time since summer that they had some alone time together.  
  
“I was at home and getting your gift… Which is awaiting you at home, by the way.”  
  
“Didn’t you go to the office today?”, Laura asked, while taking a sip of her coke.  
  
“No. I was supposed to go in today afternoon, but I couldn’t let my birthday girl down, now could I?”  
  
“Really? You choose me over your job?”  
  
Greg looked down, “I’d always choose you over work darling… Lately I just had tons of things to do… But you know I love you right?”  
  
“Yeah, I love you too.”  
  
  
Greg took a moment, before speaking up again, “How do you get along with William and Carmilla?”, why did everyone ask her that?  
  
“Will is… Well, Will… We don’t talk that much.”, Laura figured that her stepmother hadn’t told her father about his advances, because she was sure, he would kick Will’s ass, if he knew, “And Carmilla-”  
  
“She is a good kid.”, the man interrupted, “Actually she convinced me to come here instead of going to the office. She told me that it would break your heart.”  
  
Laura shook her head, “Dad… If you really have to go, then you should go. We had dinner… It’s enough, really. You don’t need to sit here and chit chat with me.” It already was breaking her heart that he didn’t think of that on his own.  
  
“No, no. It is your birthday and I insist. Plus, we have to go home for your present.”  
  
  
  
  
Carmilla was sitting on her bed and looking at the little card she had written Laura. It was nothing. Nothing, but a sweet sentiment. She had rewritten it like fifteen times, but then just went with it. It was short and a little sappy. Plus, it was an apology too. Even though Carmilla was a very pride-ridden personality. This was Laura Hollis. You could do those things on people’s birthdays… Yes, that’s what she told herself.  
  
It was getting late. The brunette just hoped that Greg was doing his job right. She couldn’t believe, how he even had considered to let his daughter down like that. Plus on the side note: He got to spend time with her, who the hell didn’t want that?  
  
She jumped, as she heard a car in the driveway. She opened her window and leaned forwards a little to see Laura’s face, when finding out that she got a car for her birthday. She sure as hell had been thrilled, when she got hers on her sixteenth birthday. Will was jealous, so he got one too. It was dumb. He always got what he wanted, if he only whined a little.  
  
Laura got out of her father’s car and headed for the house, not really noticing the small dark blue car in their driveway, when Greg called her back with some bags in his hands. Her presents, Carmilla figured. Of course her friends had all gotten her a lot of things. The brunette felt stupid for what she had. She closed her window and sat on her floor. She got a zippo lighter out of her pocket and started to play with it.  
  
_You are so dumb and stupid._ And so infinitely in love with her. But she never admitted it like that. _It’s only a crush. A silly, little crush._  
Persuasion didn’t work that well with yourself. Carmilla knew it first hand.  
  
  
  
  
Laura was handed a set of keys and got a ten minute speech on road safety, before her father joined Veronica in the bedroom. Apparently her stepmother had already fallen asleep. (She had made sure though that Laura was having a proper morning meal at breakfast time that day, so she was forgiven.)  
  
With all of her bags she made it to her room and exhaled deeply, as she let herself fall back on her bed. The blonde couldn’t live with the chaos in her room for too long though, and got up to rearrange some things in her shelf to make room for the hideous Twilight Saga in there. Carmilla would so laugh at her, which brought her attention to something else completely...  
  
_The pie._ Laura had gotten her a slice of pie. As a peace offering. They had not seen each other the whole day and she had missed the dark haired broody stepsister. She swallowed down all her pride and just went with it.  
  
Laura took the paper bag with the pie in it and opened her bedroom door, just to see Carmilla opening hers in the same moment. Talk about timing. They looked at each other in surprise for a second, before the blonde held up her paper bag.  
  
  
“I got pie for you.”  
  
Carmilla smiled at her sweetly and cocked her head to indicate her that they should head into her room. Laura crossed the narrow hallway to her stepsister’s room and sat down on her floor. She caught sight of the zippo lighter in the corner of the room and frowned.  
  
“I thought you were anti smoking?”, the blonde asked, while gesturing towards the lighter.  
  
“I am.”, Carmilla sat across from her stepsister, mimicking her in a cross-legged position, “It belonged to my father. That’s kind of the only thing I have from him. Smoking is repulsive. He did that the whole time.”  
  
Laura only nodded and her features softened, “I get it now… Why you were flipping out at the party.”  
  
“Yeah… You shouldn’t smoke. It only has negative effects on you. Why do something that doesn’t bring you any benefit?”  
  
“True… _Pie on the other hand_ …”, Laura opened the little box that held the sweet snack, “Is **very** healthy.”  
  
Carmilla chuckled, “Creampuff, your definition of healthy and mine are very different.”, she took the plastic fork that the blonde held in her direction, and scooted closer, so that their knees were touching. Laura was still holding onto the open box, while the brunette took a bite off the apple pie. “My favorite.”  
  
“Yeah?”, Laura lit up, “Mine too.”  
  
Carmilla reciprocated that beautiful, radiating smile, and suddenly offered Laura a bite.  
  
“We can share.”, the dark haired girl said, while Laura looked her in the eye and cast her a little grin that could be described as love-sick.  
  
“I love sharing.”  
  
Carmilla nodded, “I know. I do too, if it is with the right people.”  
  
  
“Carm? I’m really sorry for being bitchy yesterday. I didn’t mean to be so insensitive. It’s just… I heard some things from LaF and I just didn’t understand it…”  
  
“I don’t want to talk about _her_.”  
  
Laura shook her head, “Not the things about her. And you should really not be pissed at LaFontaine, they didn’t tell me anything specific.”  
  
“What did you not understand then?”  
  
Laura exhaled and set the box aside. She got up from her cross-legged position on the floor and adjusted herself by sitting up on her legs.  
  
  
“What do you think you are to me?” Laura knew for herself what she thought of Carmilla. She hadn’t figured it out, until her father told her that Carmilla cared enough for her to tell her father to spend time with his daughter. She wished, he didn’t need her to tell him, but she still saw the sweetness behind the brunette’s doing. Plus, the pie-sharing thing did a number on her. A good one in this case. Ten points to Carmilla Karnstein for that.  
  
  
“I honestly don’t know.”, the dark haired girl admitted, while running her tongue on the inside of her cheek, to get rid of the sweet taste.  
  
“Well, you’ve gotta have some idea? Why do you think I like you?”  
  
_Like as a friend_ , Carmilla thought to herself, “What’s not to like about me?”, Carmilla cocked her eyebrows smugly. Laura knew that it was an act. LaF had told her about the dark haired girl’s inner insecurity.  
  
Laura smiled (usually she would have rolled her eyes), “That’s true. Why **wouldn’t** I like you? You are kind, sweet, breathtakingly beautiful and caring. You care for me Carmilla Karnstein. That’s something I haven’t encountered that often.”  
  
“Ah don’t be ridiculous, Ms. Popular. You have _enough_ people caring for you.”, Carmilla waved her off.  
  
“But not the same way you care about me.”  
  
“Yeah?”, Carmilla met Laura’s gaze directly, “How much do I care about you? Do you know that?”  
  
The blonde smiled and shook her head, “No, I don’t.”, she admitted, “But I know it’s a lot. And I do care for you too, you know?”  
  
_Care for me as my friend_ , the brunette told herself. Carmilla was quiet for some seconds, her right hand was drumming against the wooden floor. The taps got faster, and then stopped all along.  
  
“I did something for you.”, Carmilla suddenly said, and got up, to get the card she had written her stepsister and something else from her desk. “It’s not much, but I tried hard the last few days and I think it turned out pretty good.”  
  
Laura looked at her in surprise, when she handed over a birthday card. It was self made. The front of it was a photograph of them both. The picture Carmilla’s mother took of them two weeks ago at prom. She smiled and opened the card to read the words in it.  
  
  
_The moon itself awaits for you to shine at the end of every night, because you are the sun._  
_Happy birthday Cutie, and sorry for yesterday.  
Carmilla_  


  
“Apology accepted, and I’m sorry too.”, Laura chuckled and looked at the second thing Carmilla was holding onto. It was a drawing. Rough and edgy, but it was her. Carmilla had drawn her.  
  
“I love the way you get those little crinkles right by your nose, or the way your eyes seem lighter, and your lips, your beautiful lips, how they curl, when you smile. And I love the way your hair falls around your face, that pretty, beautiful face... So I attempted to make it last.”  
  
Laura had watched her with her mouth wide open. She slowly got up, never leaving Carmilla’s eyes, while rising. As they both were on the same level, the blonde could see, how the other girl swallowed. She was nervous. As was Laura.  
  
They stood there with nonexistent space between them. Not one dared to move for several seconds. Carmilla looked down shyly. Maybe that was too much? She never had planned to say those things. They came naturally. Her filter wasn’t really working, when Laura looked so damn beautiful and was being so sweet. She got her pie, even though they were fighting. Whatever there was between them, she at least hoped that Laura cared enough for her as her friend.  
  
Suddenly Laura was leaning in and hugging her. Their minimal height difference made their bodies fit perfectly against each other. Laura’s grip around Carmilla’s neck was almost crushing her to death, but yet it felt so good. After what seemed like an eternity, she spoke up, “Carm?” The brunette felt like fainting, because her forever-crush was breathing on her neck. She would one day kill her, of that she was certain.  
  
  
“Yeah?”  
  
“I think tonight, I might have fallen for you a little.”  
  
  
_And sometimes the collision of moon and sun wasn’t as bad, as everyone would have thunk it to be…_


	16. A Date With You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Yes, you little idiot, I am asking you out.”

“I think tonight, I might have fallen for you a little.”

Carmilla thought she had misheard Laura. She wanted to lean back and look at the other girl, but the blonde secured her in a firm grip, not letting go. Laura wanted to get it all out, before looking at the dark haired girl, who could easily take away her breath (and her words with it).

“And I just wanted to tell you that, because maybe you don’t know… Or actually _I’m pretty sure that you don’t know_. You don’t know how much I like you… It’s not just some fleeting crush or something. You make me feel comfortable and you are always there for me…”, Laura giggled, “Well, except when you’re trying to avoid me, because you think that I am using you-”

“That’s not-”

“It’s okay, Carmilla. I get it. It was confusing for you, because I did everything wrong. I’m kind of messed up with situations like these, and I think…”, Laura finally leaned back, to look Carmilla in the eyes, “Well I’ve always liked you for your appearance, but then I saw how you were as a person in the last couple of months… And I think, I like you very much...”  
  
“You think?”

Laura was giggling again, “I do like you yes.”  
  
  
There was a moment.

Carmilla chuckled, “God, it used to drive me nuts, when I would do things for you, _that were so clearly only for you, and you’d say_ -”

“You are actually a nice person.”, the blonde finished off her sentence, “But Carm, you **are** nice. You are kind.”

“Because I have been into you for this whole time and you would just wave it off as me and I…”, the brunette shrugged, with her arms still around the other girl’s torso. Not really knowing, how to explain.

“But I see it now. I know now. I feel _it_ too. Isn’t it enough?”, Laura was hopeful. It. She felt it too. It being...

Carmilla shook her head and the blonde let go of her immediately. Just then the dark haired girl caught onto what she had conveyed through that gesture.

“ **It is!** I just…”, Carmilla bit her lip and held out her hands for Laura to take them, which she did, “I actually wanted to go to the movies with you for your birthday. You know… Do something, seeing our school stress is over and we are both pretty free now and stuff… It’s only one more week until the holidays are starting. We can explore this, whatever this is…”

  
Laura cast her a warm smile, before it faltered, “I will be going to my grandparents’ house for the holidays.”

“I know, but you’re going there on the 22nd. There is still some time, you know?”

“Except we don’t. Carm, we live here, with both our parents under the same roof. This is… _We can’t_ …”

Carmilla let out a noise of annoyance, “Of course there would be that factor to count in.”

  
“Just let me think here for a second okay?”

The brunette let go of her stepsister’s hand. _Stepsister._ They were stepsisters.

“What do _you_ suggest we do?”, Laura asked. For once she felt. She had never felt. Not anything than brief attraction to someone, and now she **felt**. And it had to be her stepsister of all the people. A number, 7,5 billion, and it had to be Carmilla Karnstein.

  
“I can’t decide that for you.”

“No, but what would you decide for yourself?”

“For once I’d just let myself be happy. I haven’t felt like this for anyone. _She_ left me in pieces, but not because I loved her and her leaving me destroyed me, but because loving her was toxic. She was toxic, venom, but you… This feels different, always has. Because I’ve always liked you this way, Laura, but it was unresolved, it was not complete. I never thought I had the chance to. I just never thought that I one day would be enough.”

  
Laura frowned, “Why would you ever think that?”

“Because you are the most popular girl in school and I am only a underdog. The sun doesn’t even deign to look at the moon. Why would you ever consider me? I don’t match with-”

The blonde couldn’t hear another word about that anymore. She did, what she was known for by now. Shutting the other girl up with a kiss. Laura’s hands cupped Carmilla’s beautiful face. How could she not see herself as that? How did she not see, just how worthy she was of her? How did the moon not see that it was equally as essential to the sun and not only vice versa?

The blonde broke free from the lip-lock, “Whatever anyone ever told you about you not being worthy. **You are.** Remember that. **You are.** ”, Laura whispered, before placing another gentle kiss on those lips that had become to be her most favorite thing to kiss. Although she hadn’t done it that often. _Yet._ A hopeful feeling warming her from the inside.

  
“What does this mean?”, Carmilla asked, clearly distracted, because of the way the blonde was soothing her own bottom lip (bruised and full, because of their previous shared kiss) with her tongue, or the way her cheeks had gained some color.

“It means that we’ll have to keep it a secret.”, the blonde finally gave in.

“Well, I was kind of expecting that. With the whole school knowing that you sort of are straight and all?”, Carmilla cocked her eyebrows.

  
Laura and a panicky grimace, “And that too, _oh my god_ , we will have to keep **this** a secret forever!”

“Relax, high school’s gonna end eventually.”, the brunette joked.

Laura knit her brows together, “You will get tired of this. Of me. You won’t be happy with me.”, she had let go of Carmilla and was now pacing around, gesturing frantically, “Because I am not ready to tell and you are Carmilla Karnstein, everyone knows about your sexuality and you don’t want to date someone, who isn’t-”

“Hey!”, Carmilla got ahold of the nervous wreck that went by the name Laura Hollis, “First of all _I don’t care_ and second of all, Laura, we haven’t even gone to a date yet. So this is hardly worth calling dating… Let’s just take one step after the other yeah?” Her smirk. Oh that beautiful smirk, how could she have ever considered not wanting to be together with her.

“Would you date me despite of what I just said?”, the blonde was sceptical about it.

“Well for that to find out, I would like to go on a date with you first, Ms. Hollis.”

“Wait, are you asking me that now for real?”

Carmilla rolled her eyes, “Yes, you little idiot, I am asking you out.”

 

 

***

   
  
LaFontaine and Perry were in the midst of talking, when Carmilla unashamedly sat beside the _semi-couple-not-so-couple-whatever_ in the quad. Their situation was confusing, to say the least.  
  
“Gingersnap.”  
  
“Ohh… Hey.”, they were avoiding their friend’s eyes. Perry cleared her throat.  
  
“It is so nice to see you here… Uhm, I was just going to get myself something from the vending machine…”, the curly redhead said and stalked off.  
  
“I really like her.”, Carmilla chuckled, before returning to her serious expression, “Oh common.”, she nudged LaF, “Can’t tell me you’re still pissed at me.”  
  
“Me? _You_ were the one who was pissed at me for trying to help.”  
  
“Bygones.”, the brunette waved off.  
  
LaFontaine frowned, “Have you smoked something? You are so… _Happy_.”, they made a disgusted face at the last word.  
  
“Oh no. Ever since that debacle with those art nerds, I haven’t come to trust anyone with _that_.”, she threw in a meaningful look, LaF nodded approvingly. The weed debacle of the previous year.  
  
“You shouldn’t trust them. Despite your talent, you definitely belong to Science.”, LaF said matter of factly.  
  
Carmilla shook her head, “I’m just taking Science, because art isn’t something you can pursue, if you’re only average.”  
  
LaF hummed, “So little Ms. Sunshine and you talked, I suppose?”  
  
The dark haired girl clicked her tongue and cocked her eyebrows, before rising up, “Ahh, and right back at it, huh? I’ll see you tomorrow, weirdo.”  
  
“You’ll have to tell me eventually!”, they called after her. They were smiling. She was too. Both were sharing a look.  
  
“Yeah, yeah, yeah…”  
  
It was a good winter day to be sitting in the quad. Not chilly at all. Warm and fuzzy. With all those feelings. A good day to be out, LaFontaine thought to themselves, as Perry was approaching the bench the redhead was sitting at.

“I got you your favorite chips from the vending machine.”, Perry said with a smile.  
  
Definitely a good day.  
  
  
  
Carmilla was walking into the kitchen to find her mother kissing her stepfather.  
  
“ **Ew gross!** Could you guys take it somewhere else? My teenager eyes can’t handle all of that.”, she gestured with her hands in their general direction.  
  
Suddenly she heard Laura, who was sitting on a barstool nearby, “They’re cute. Just because _your_ love life isn’t flowing and going in the moment, you don’t have to be so…”, she trailed off, with a wicked grin. Carmilla arched an eyebrow.  
  
Greg and Veronica just giggled (seriously giggled like school kids) and made their way to the living room to leave the girls alone.  
  
  
  
“What were you saying about my love life?”, the dark haired girl asked (voice low and husky -on purpose of course), while seating herself beside Laura, who tensed up a bit.  
  
“What are you doing Carm?”  
  
“I don’t know, _what_ you are referring to, but currently I am talking to you, cutie.”  
  
“Uh huh.”, she rolled her eyes and got up from her seating position to throw away the remnants of an apple that she had been eating. That girl sometimes did eat healthy things, Carmilla thought to herself.  
  
  
“Hey, Laura?”  
  
“Yeah?”, the blonde turned around to regard her stepsister with eye-contact.  
  
“So what do we tell our parents about tonight?”  
  
Laura seemed to think for a moment, before having a pleased expression on her face, “Study session for English with Nat and SJ.”  
  
“Do you usually doll up for your study sessions?”  
  
“Do I have to look particularly good tonight?”, Laura thought about it. Well technically it was their first date. So she probably should be _dolling up_.  
  
Carmilla had seen her at her worse though. In oversized t-shirts, with cookie crumbles on her chin and unwashed hair, so what did it matter?  
  
  
The brunette feigned a shocked expression, “Oh my, you wound me. Am I not worth it to you or what?”  
  
“No, of course you are!”, Laura bit her lip, ugh it had been ages since they last had kissed (something around 83 hours), “I mean, it’s kind of…”, she whispered the next few words, “Our first date and I do want to dress properly, but-”  
  
“Relax, we are just going to watch a drive in movie. I was messing with you. You can wear whatever you like. You look cute always anyway.”  
  
Laura was rolling her eyes, before sauntering over to where the dark haired girl was still seated. She came to a halt very close to Carmilla’s face, eyed her for a second, before leaning in and giving her a peck on her right cheek.  
  
  
“I’m gonna go finish my homework, when did ya want to go?”, she asked, almost halfway through the door.  
  
Carmilla was a little flustered and looked around, hoping no one had seen that (which was ridiculous, because Greg and Veronica could be heard loudly in the living room, watching some TV show).  
  
“Six? Movie starts at 7 and I thought we could go grab some cheeseburgers or something on our way.” Nothing over the top, as Carmilla had planned, because she did not want to play out all her cards yet. Just if all of that developed well... Then maybe, but for now usual teenage-highschool-romance would have to do.  
  
“Sure, I’ll be ready by six.”  
  
“Perfect.”  
  
  
  
  
Carmilla was nagging her mother, while she was going over paperwork on the dining table, “Please let us break the rules just this time.”  
  
“Carmilla, it is a school night, curfew is at nine. Always has been. Always will be.”  
  
“But…”, suddenly she got an idea, “But I know, how important it is for you that I get along with Laura well. Greg would like that too, wouldn’t he?”  
  
“Are you trying to manipulate me?”, Veronica squinted her eyes at her daughter.  
  
“Oh common, I know that I’m your favorite…”  
  
The older woman rolled her eyes, “Carmilla.”, she warned, but was smiling. Of course she was her favorite. Technically, because she had been the youngest one. Although Will was only 34 minutes her senior. Still it counted.  
  
  
“I said nine.”  
  
“Nine what?”, Laura walked in right at that moment.  
  
“My mother, _who I love with all of my heart_ , wants to ruin our fun and is urging us to come back at nine.”, Veronica had caught onto her daughter’s chipperness. And although it was nice to see, it was not _her_ Carmilla.  
  
“Fun? Since when is meeting your friends to study fun?”, the mother interrogated suspiciously.  
  
“Well…”, the brunette walked over to her stepsister, putting an arm around Laura, who looked at her in confusion, “ _Sisterly bonding_ is fun.”  
  
  
The blonde shrugged off that arm, “ **Ew.** ”  
  
Carmilla feigned a gasp, “ **Ew???** Mom, she is mean to me!”  
  
Veronica laughed, “Alright you two, you be home by eleven and not one second later, you hear me?”  
  
“Yess!”, Carmilla ran to her mother and kissed her on her cheek.  
  
Veronica looked at her in shock, “You haven’t done that since you got into high school!”  
  
“Pfft, we have to go now!”, the dark haired girl waved off and dragged Laura with her.  
  
  
Of course Carmilla had been all gentlewoman-ey and had opened the door for the blonde, who had thanked her with an approving look. Once both buckled in, Laura stopped Carmilla for a moment, before she could start the motor.  
  
“Just so you know, the _ew_ wasn’t because of you, it was because you called our date sisterly bonding.”  
  
Carmilla clicked her tongue and arched an eyebrow, “Did that bother you?”  
  
“Well, it was weird.”  
  
The brunette cast Laura a knowing look, “It was in front of my mother.”, she finally started to drive backwards and out of the driveway.  
  
“I know. It’s just weird how you can play it down in front of her.”  
  
“Play what down?”  
  
“That you are into me.”, Laura smiled one of her rare smug smiles.  
  
“Well my mother knows, kind of. I have flirted with you before, in front of her... She just doesn’t know that her darling stepdaughter is kinda into me too and she trusts me with not trying to jump you like Will.”  
  
Laura decided to let the last comment slide, “Right, I remember. The first time we met at your house for a family meal. You did say something very inappropriate to me that night, although I don’t really remember what exactly it was.”, Laura nodded and thought back to the dinner more than one year ago.  
  
  
“You do?”, Carmilla was impressed, “I think you haven’t even looked at me once that night.”  
  
“Oh I have watched you from the corner of my eyes. I told you, I always found you interesting.”  
  
“Really? Why haven’t you talked to me then?”  
  
“I have exchanged words with you.”, the blonde said with a frown.  
  
Carmilla turned to look at the other girl for a second, “Yeah hellos and goodbyes do make a great conversation, Creampuff.”  
  
“Well, I was still getting accustomed to my dad having this whole life I didn’t know about. I mean, how did _you_ feel, when you found out that our parents have had this whole affair for over a year without telling us?”  
  
“I was happy for my mom, because your dad seemed like a nice guy… And I liked seeing you more often.”, Carmilla sucked in her lips, not knowing if that was too much information that she was sharing.  
  
“Yeah? I always forget that you were pining for me back then. Again: You are a great actor, playing it down.” She really wasn’t. Laura just had been too oblivious.  
  
“Oh shut up. I was **not** pining for you.”  
  
“Right, you were **only** _very much into me_.”  
  
“No.”, the brunette shook her head.  
  
“Are you gonna deny it now?”, Laura cocked up her brows, meeting the dark haired girl’s gaze. They were standing at a parking lot now.  
  
“No, I mean, it’s not _‘you were very much into me’_. I **am** very much into you.”  
  
Laura smiled and rolled her eyes, “Whatever.”  
  
Carmilla swiftly got out of and around the car to open her passenger’s door.  
  
“Do not _whatever_ me sweetheart.”, she held out a hand and Laura took it, while getting out of the vehicle, the brunette placed a chaste kiss on the hand that she was holding onto, “You look beautiful by the way.”  
  
Laura looked down at herself and frowned, “Yeah? A parka and worn out jeans do it for you?”  
  
“Everything that has anything to do with you does it for me, yes.”  
  
God, the blonde wasn’t used to this amount of flirting. There had been a lot lately, but this whole date thing was blowing her mind. Carmilla could sweet-talk very well. No wonder that people were after her. Who didn’t want to be treated that way? Yeah, she still hadn’t wrapped her head around the fact that Carmilla only did this for her.  
  
  
  
  
“So, tell me something about yourself.”, Laura urged, while Carmilla was staring at the screen. The dark haired girl ogled her from the corner of her eyes, before turning slightly. (Good thing that her car had such a huge space, after putting down the backseats.)  
  
“There’s a movie playing and Scarlett Johansson is having her scene and you aren’t even watching? Are you sure, you’re gay?”, she was hit by popcorn for that comment.  
  
“You aren’t allowed to swoon over other women, while on a date Carm.”  
  
Carmilla was arching an eyebrow, “Oh really? And who tells me that?”  
  
“ **I** am telling you, because your person of interest is sitting right next to you and you aren’t even appreciating it.”  
  
“Oh, don’t worry. I am appreciating it. Very much so actually.”, Carmilla nudged the other girl and cocked her head to the screen, “But for now… Less talking. We can talk after the movie’s ended. We still have like 2 hours after that, before we have to head home.”  
  
Laura learned a few things, while watching the movie: Carmilla had it for the blondes. Carmilla was very much into movies, and she didn’t even have any particular genre that she liked. Carmilla liked those sour gummy worm thingies. And lastly: Carmilla had a very nice profile to look at, plus with those parted lips, while concentrating on the movie… Yes, she was sure that she was falling a little more, whenever she indulged into thinking about the other girl. And that feeling was magnificent.  
  
  
  
“Soo, now tell me something about you.”, Laura said, after shoving down yet another bite off her chocolate bar. Carmilla eyed her with semi-disgust.  
  
“How can you eat so much sugar in this little time?”  
  
“Training, _darling_ , hard training. My stomach’s made of steel or something.”  
  
Carmilla looked down to where Laura’s stomach was hidden behind a thick sweater, “So I’ve heard.” She was talking about something else.  
  
“Yeah?”, Laura frowned, “What’s _that_ supposed to mean?”  
  
The brunette shrugged, “Nothing. Just that your work-outs pay off cutie.”  
  
“Ahh, so you **do** creep on me when I’m not looking in PE.”  
  
“I have absolutely no idea what you are talking about.”, Carmilla shook her head and looked away. Slightly embarrassed? No Carmilla Karnstein never was embarrassed.  
  
  
“You are so dodging the questions I have made up in my mind for you.”, Laura pouted.  
  
Carmilla shifted a little, so that she was facing her stepsister, “Well fine, we are alone now, movie has ended, we might get murdered here, but sure, shoot.”  
  
  
Laura rolled her eyes, “So, tell me, what’s your favorite subject in school?”  
  
“I like arts a lot.”  
  
“Yeah? Why didn’t you pick it? Why are you in science classes?”  
  
“Because LaF is horrible in arts.”, Carmilla frowned, “Besides I took arts as a extracurricular activity the last three years.”  
  
Laura nodded, thinking about her next question, “So LaFontaine and you are inseparable?”  
  
Carmilla seemed to think for a second, “They always accepted me for who I am and it goes both ways... Uhm...”  
  
“I know that they know about us… Well I overheard you some time ago, when you guys talked about me.”  
  
The dark haired girl placed the pieces together, even though she already knew, she still felt the need to clarify, “Oh… Laura they would never-”  
  
Laura stopped her immediately, “It’s okay Carm. My secret… And also now _our secret_ seems to be safe with them.”  
  
“Yeah… They would never tell anyone, I swear.”  
  
Laura was starting to get a little cold, as she hugged herself and ran her hands over her upper arms, to gain some sort of heat from the friction. Carmilla noticed it immediately.  
  
  
“Are you cold?”  
  
“A little… What’s up with your heater?”  
  
“Well, I don’t want my car battery to die out here…”, suddenly the brunette had an idea, “Come on…”, she gestured between her legs and leaned her back against the cold window of her car. Oh what she would do for that girl.  
  
Laura did as she was told, letting her backside meet Carmilla’s front. It was a little awkward at first, but as she shifted, and her stepsister’s arms came to rest on her stomach, it felt pretty comfortable. Carmilla was one of those people that radiated off warmth.  
  
  
“You’re so comfy.”, the blonde sighed and leaned her head back, so that her lips were almost brushing against the dark haired girl’s cheek.  
  
Carmilla started to chuckle, “You know… I’ve never really been with someone who’s shorter than me. It’s kind of refreshing.”  
  
Laura frowned, noticing that the other girl couldn’t see her, so she leaned away to the side and arched her eyebrows, “Yeah, and I’ve never met anyone who could understand my short girl problems.”  
  
“Shut up, I’m so much taller than you.”  
  
“You would wish that.”, Laura rolled her eyes, before returning to her initial position again.  
  
“It’s good though.”  
  
The blonde was playing with one of Carmilla’s hands on her stomach, tracing her index over the veins that shone through that pale skin. The girl could be made of diamonds, that’s how pale she was. That gave her some sort of porcelain-doll-like beauty though.  
  
  
“What’s good?”  
  
“That you’re shorter than me. We fit.”, Carmilla didn’t want to sound too sure of that, “Well you know physically spoken. We would look good together.”, much better… Or not? Did she just low-key admit to wanting to be together? Laura didn’t give that too much thought though. She was chuckling.  
  
“Yeah? How would _Ms. I’m-Gonna-Cut-Off-Your-Fucking-Hand-If-You-Touch-My-Stepsister_ and Laura Hollis look together?”, Laura was leaning away again.  
  
“Well cutie, if I get such a cool name, you get one too. How about _Ms. I-Am-An-Oblivious-Idiot_ for instance.”  
  
Laura scoffed, but was still smiling, “You are such an asshole.” After she had said that last word, she gently slapped Carmilla’s left thigh and laughed. Her eyes were filled with something else now. Everything was so easy. There they were with no worry on their minds (except maybe getting murdered in the middle of the night on some abandoned parking lot).  
  
  
“Yeah? And you’re beautiful.”  
  
Abruptly the blonde’s laughter subsided and was replaced with a shy smile. She looked away. Laura couldn’t stand the intense stare Carmilla was giving her. Her dark, dark eyes. So dark that if one dared to look too closely, they could be sucked in. However the blonde knew that she had been sucked in a long time ago. How did this happen? How was she in that situation? How did this feel so right? Laura didn’t know much about high school romances. Or romance in general, but this was what her 12 year old self had pictured.  
  
(Maybe minus the girl part, but other than that pretty much.)  
  
  
“Do we have rules for this?”, Laura suddenly wanted to know.  
  
Carmilla didn’t understand, “Rules?”  
  
“Well yeah, there are rules for first dates… And I didn’t know if they applied to us?”  
  
“Which ones were you specifically thinking about?”, oh the brunette had an idea.  
  
“Kissing on first dates, for instance.”, Laura was fully turning in Carmilla’s arms, facing the other girl with big eyes that were awaiting for an answer. She got one. A nonverbal one. Carmilla pressed her lips to the ones presented to her. Laura was quick in reciprocating, both smiled into the kiss.  
  
“I take that as a _no_.”, the blonde chuckled, before just going for the smooching session.  
  
She didn’t feel cold anymore.  
  
  
  
Veronica saw headlights illuminating the archway by the front door and was quick in rising up to her feet and heading towards the entrance, to see how her daughter helped Laura out of the car with an outreached hand. She watched both of the girls closely, before taking some steps back.  
  
Carmilla unlocked the front door and was surprised to see her mother lurking around that late.  
  
  
“We are here on time, aren’t we?”, the brunette asked immediately, as she was fishing out her phone out of her jacket’s pocket to look at the time.  
  
  
**10:41**  
  
  
“Yes. You are.”, Veronica watched her stepdaughter for a moment, “Laura, can I talk to Carmilla in private for a moment?”  
  
Laura looked at the other girl, who only shrugged and went upstairs, “Good night.”, she called down.  
  
  
  
Veronica smiled at the blonde and turned to look at her daughter, “Carmilla what are you doing with Laura?”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A huge thank you to each and everyone for reading this story!  
> I wanted to let you know that I read all the comments and appreciate the kudos!


	17. Surprise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Sometimes I wish that our situation wouldn’t be like this.”

“Carmilla what are you doing with Laura?”  
  
The brunette frowned, before turning her expression into something that looked utterly offended and/or confused, “Excuse me, _what_?”  
  
“I know you are the biggest flirt, and all, but recently you two have gotten pretty close and I was wondering…”  
  
“There is **nothing** going on with her. She is straight.”  
  
“I know that.”, Veronica nodded, “But you have at one point once liked her. Don’t think I don’t know.”  
  
Carmilla scoffed, “And you don’t be ridiculous.”  
  
“Darling, those tiny crushes can become very big ones, once you get in too deep.”  
  
“Uh huh. I’ll remember.”, the girl rolled her eyes, “She is just a good friend.”  
  
“Okay. Because only _you_ will get hurt in the process, you know that right?”  
  
Her mother was right. Except, Laura had kind of told her that she was liking her back. However that was something they both decided on keeping a secret. It would make things weird and awkward, and no one wanted that. Especially with them both finally being on the same page.  
  
Carmilla passed her mother and hurried upstairs and into her room, where Laura was already waiting on her bed with a grin.  
  
  
  
“What did your mom want?”, the blonde asked.  
  
“You shouldn’t be in here. What if anyone checks in on you?”, Carmilla swiftly closed her bedroom door and locked it. Laura had observed that little thing with curiosity.  
  
“Well it’s a good thing then that we both have access to the bathroom, no? I could just sneak back into my room in no time or vanish into the bathroom pretending to…”, she trailed off, because the brunette was smiling in that particular way at her again. Since when did she do that that often?  
  
  
“Creampuff, you should be a little more careful. My mother is suspecting something.”  
  
Laura’s eyes grew wide, “What?”  
  
“Relax, sweetheart.”, the dark haired girl sat beside the other one, “She only thinks I’m into you. I told her you were straight.”  
  
The blonde groaned and closed her eyes, “Carm, why would you do that?”  
  
“Do what?”  
  
“Tell her that I’m straight.”  
  
  
Carmilla frowned, “Well, isn’t that what you wanted? Not telling anyone about your sexuality?”  
  
“Not telling anyone about it is one thing, but _lying_ … This will make it all harder, when I actually do decide to tell everyone.”  
  
“ **If** you do that.”, the brunette cocked her head in a way that indicated that she didn’t think that Laura ever would.  
  
“I’m planning on doing that someday, you know?”  
  
“Some day, yeah.”, the brunette said thoughtfully, with her head hung low, but then she looked up with a genuine smile, “But it doesn’t matter to me.”, she held out her hand and Laura took it mindlessly, consumed by her thoughts.  
  
Laura felt bad. She was feeling guilty, because Carmilla was holding back for her. Carmilla was lying for her. Carmilla had to hide for her. Beautiful Carmilla, who could be with anyone she desired.  
  
  
“Carmilla?”  
  
“Yeah?”, she scooted closer to where the blonde was sitting, after kicking off her shoes.  
  
“How was it for you? I mean, how did you tell your mother?”  
  
“Well…”, Carmilla grinned, “I was making out with a girl in my bed one day and she forgot to knock.”  
  
Laura nodded slowly, and squinted her eyes, “That’s it? She didn’t question it?”  
  
“No she did ground me though. I was 15, and it was a school night.”, she reveled in memories.  
  
  
“Yeah I remember. Because you were together with that one girl… I saw you two together in the hallways often.”  
  
Carmilla thought about who Laura could possibly be talking about, and when she knew, she threw her a meaningful look, “Mel and I weren’t together.”  
  
“I sure have seen you make out with her a lot.”  
  
“Who’s the stalker now?”, Carmilla was cocking up her eyebrows, before continuing, “It’s weird. I always thought you didn’t even notice me.”  
  
“Now you know, I noticed you.”, the blonde said, leaning back on Carmilla’s bed and closing her eyes for some seconds.  
  
“Hey, don’t you dare falling asleep on my bed now!”, the brunette warned.  
  
“Do something about it then.”, Laura was cocking her brows and biting her bottom lip, showing off her teeth. Carmilla gave in too gladly.

 

 

 

***

  
  
“Hey Carm?”, Laura was sitting on the windowsill in her room. It had the perfect overview of their backyard, whereas the windows in Carmilla’s room provided a view on their driveway and the front side of the big house.  
  
“Yes?”, the brunette had been spending the most recent nights talking to her stepsister until midnight and beyond, not necessarily being all enamoured with each other physically, but just enjoying the plain company of the other.  
  
“You wrote that thing about the moon… Does it mean to you as much as the stars do?”  
  
Carmilla smiled, looking up from her position on the floor by the low windowsill. Laura’s face was lit in the whitish glow. A full moon. That’s how the blonde came up with the question, she guessed.

  
“See, the moon is something else entirely.”  
  
Laura looked at it in the same time, rethinking what the other girl said, a little pout was showing. She needed explanation. The blonde turned to her stepsister, finally ready to join her on the floor, but Carmilla was the one rising up, and stood beside her, so that she had a full sight of the moon now too.  
  
  
“It stands alone. Apart from everything else. It doesn’t match the others. However that’s how it makes a great companion for lonesome people.”, Carmilla said, carefully looking at the watery star.  
  
“Yeah? So what is the appeal of it?”  
  
Carmilla was smiling, that one beautiful kind that made Laura’s heart ache and race and all those stupid things described in the books, movies and love songs. _Love songs_. Laura had been listening to those often lately.  
  
“See, there is not only one thing I like about the moon. I like that it is cratered, just like us humans are with flaws and I like that it’s always there.”  
  
“Except on some nights we don’t see it.”  
  
“Whether it is a crescent moon or a full moon… Does not matter. Also a new moon is a moon nonetheless, sweetheart. Only because we fail to acknowledge it all the time, doesn’t mean that it isn’t there. Sometimes we don’t see the things that are so clearly in front of us, don’t you agree with me on that one?”  
  
Laura looked up to be met by a pair of gentle, but yet dark eyes. They were staring at her intently, meticulously scanning every little thing about that beautiful face. If god existed, Carmilla thought, then he certainly did create the most perfect human being there was on earth and luckily she got to experience _her_. Luckily they were born in the same lifetime. Luckily for them they were brought up in the same small town.  
  
Carmilla tilted her head to the side, just admiring the girl in front of her.  
  
  
“You look beautiful.”  
  
Surprisingly Laura was the one saying those words out loud, and not the girl that made them out in her head.  
  
“Then you haven’t seen yourself.”  
  
The blonde leaned her head back to meet the wall, “Nah, I have seen plenty of me. I think you’re cuter.”  
  
Carmilla chuckled, “Watch your mouth, Laura Hollis. **No one** calls me cute.”  
  
“I do, and I can.”  
  
“Yeah? Why’s that?”, the brunette leaned down a bit, to be on Laura’s eye-level.  
  
“Because…”, Because what, Laura? “Because I am entitled to my own opinion.”  
  
  
For a second there Carmilla seemed not to be pleased with the answer, but she leaned in nonetheless, to place a soft kiss on the other girl’s cheek.  
  
“I should go into my room. It’s getting late. We have school tomorrow.”  
  
“Right… Hey, Carm?”  
  
“Yeah?”  
  
“Wanna ride to school together tomorrow?”  
  
Carmilla cocked up an eyebrow, “And how exactly are you selling this story to papa Hollis? You have your own car now. Don’t you think it will be suspicious if we all of a sudden were to ride together after you have a perfectly well functioning automobile of your own?”  
  
“It saves gas money, and it is more convenient because of… You know, parking spots aaaand…”  
  
“And?”, the dark haired girl urged Laura to continue.  
  
“And you get to make out with me before school.”  
  
“That’s what you gonna tell your dad?”  
  
“Well no of course not, but I was hoping you’d like that.”, she wiggled with her eyebrows. It was cute.  
  
Carmilla threw her head back and chuckled, “Oh yes, Laura Hollis, popular girl and all… How did I ever get so lucky?”, the tone she said it in was nothing, but teasing, however she had meant every single word.  
  
“Now scramble! I need to get my beauty rest!”  
  
“Of course.”, the brunette was halfway out of the room (they always took the option of going through the bathroom), when she stopped, “Although I told you that you already are a beauty.”  
  
Laura smiled like an idiot for like 5 minutes, before she finally got out of her clothes and snuggled into her blanket. It was wishful thinking, of course, but the blonde couldn’t help, but wish that maybe once Carmilla wouldn’t have to vanish into her own room after their late night sessions of talking and that they could cuddle up in one of their beds and fall asleep together.

 

 

***

  
   
English classes were much more interesting now. Like _really_ interesting. Laura would try to concentrate hard, but her mind would wander off to the other girl sitting just a few feet away from her. The blonde would catch herself more often staring.  
  
Those dark curls falling around her beautiful face, as Carmilla would try to write something down. The way her slender fingers gripped the fountain pen, or the way her tongue would lightly dart out, whenever she would scrunch her face, because apparently her eyesight wasn’t the best. (Of course she would never get that checked out, because she saw just perfectly fine, thanks on that department -but doctors? No.)  
  
Carmilla also was a good actress. She could restrain herself from stealing too many glances, or giving away her feelings by simply looking at Laura. Of course the blonde knew, because she knew of their sweet little secret. So, of course the blonde would catch Carmilla stare at her from her spot beside LaFontaine during lunch. Or during PE, whenever she would stretch. Carmilla was always there in the background, a small smirk curling up one side of her lips. Those beautiful lips that would caress her in a tender touch just behind the bleachers, when no one was watching. Seriously though, how did Laura keep up with all those things? She wondered.  
  
So on a Friday, shortly before their final release into everyday-life aka the ominous Christmas holidays, Laura plopped down beside her stepsister unannounced, while she was reading one of her countless books in the quad. It was cold, boy was it, but that didn’t deter the dark haired girl from sitting outside. Much to Laura’s fortune, because that meant almost no one was there to eavesdrop.  
  
  
“Did you want anything, Creampuff?”, she hadn’t even looked up for just a second. Anyone watching them would say Carmilla was giving her the cold shoulder. But Laura. Oh, Laura knew from the slight twitch in her face that the brunette did acknowledge her. She did so much with the smallest of things. Carmilla was a nonverbal person, although she painted her pictures so clear with words. However her actions and gestures and facial expressions? To die for all the more.  
  
“In three hours we’ll be released into our holidays. I need some vacation. Like ASAP.”  
  
Carmilla’s smirk grew, because yes, ever since Laura was beside her and bouncing with her left leg (one of those quirks the blonde had), she had that waiting on her lips, to grow and to blossom -depending on what Laura would say to her.  
  
“And?”, she asked, still invested very much in her book. Except she was stuck on the same sentence for 2 whole minutes now. And Carmilla was a fast reader. Like _really_ fast.  
  
The blonde was giving her a side-wards glance, “Nothing.”, the fog that escaped her mouth reminding them of their current position outside in winterly temperatures.  
  
  
_Huh._  
  
  
“Sweetheart, what’s up?”, Carmilla was a tad bit serious now, looking up from her book for the first time, because who really cared? Plus, she couldn’t continue reading that darn same sentence over and over again.  
  
“Nothing… I just… It’s comin’ closer. I’ll be gone and you’ll be here and we…”  
  
Carmilla snorted, amused, “You’ll be gone for 4 days Laura.”  
  
“Yeah, but it’s our first Christmas together…”, she thought about it for a second, before correcting herself, “Well, it would have been.”  
  
“We can celebrate when you’re back, if that’s so important to you.”, ugh she was suggesting too much again. Who was this Laura Hollis, really?  
  
“Yeah when I’m back… Or we could you know… Pre-celebrate!”  
  
So that was what the bouncing around nervously had meant.  
  
“Sure.”, Carmilla’s smirk grew, “What were you thinking?”  
  
“Well for starters...”, Laura began, but the brunette did not pay that much attention to her words. She was busy thinking about the next time they would be able to kiss. Too far away. Definitely.  
  
  
  
  
Carmilla and Laura stumbled into their house laughing, when Veronica called her daughter from the living room. They both went to see, what the emergency was, when a certain favorite sister greeted them both with arms crossed on her chest and a tight-lipped smile.  
  
The brunette immediately ran to her and wrapped her up in a hug.  
  
  
“Mattie! When did you get into town?!”, they spun around a bit, Laura observing their embrace with a slight smile.  
  
“Just some hours ago. And don’t you _“Mattie”_ me, you little monster! You haven’t kept contact with me at all since summer!”  
  
Carmilla shyly duck her head, “I was busy with school.”  
  
Her sister cocked up her brows in surprise, “Mother, did she say _school_?”, she shook her head, “Making up excuses to appease your big sister, hmn?”  
  
“What are you even doing here?”  
  
They finally let go of each other fully, “Well, I thought Christmas with you all would be fun this year, since we are all a huge family now. Patchwork at it’s finest, dear!”  
  
The way she talked to Carmilla… Wow, she really was 7 years older than them, Laura thought. She had been living in Morocco, tending to her own little fashion label (she looked like she did with that dress that looked like a few hundred bucks).  
  
  
“That’s so great!”, the youngest Karnstein exclaimed happily, before turning to her mother, “Did you know of this and didn’t tell me?”  
  
Veronica had a fond smile on her face and shrugged, “Your sister wanted it to be a surprise. Will was as thrilled as you.”  
  
“You’ve seen the asshat before me?”, Carmilla was almost jealous. It was cute. Laura found the way the brunette’s face had lit up adorable. And heartwarming. Carmilla always acted so much older than her true age, but her interacting with Mattie, brought out the 16 year old in her.  
  
“Well, it’s not my fault that you’re always so enamoured with…”, her gaze fell to Laura, who was standing awkwardly in the room, “ **School.** ”, she put on a polite smile, “Midget, nice to see you again.”  
  
  
“Yeah, hey Mattie.”, Laura gave her a curt nod.  
  
“Darling, I will talk to you later, you go freshen up and lose that backpack of yours. I have time until I need to check into my hotel.”  
  
“Absolutely not.”, Veronica interjected, “None of my daughters will sleep outside of this house during Christmas. Or at any other given time.”  
  
“Well, my old room is occupied, so there is no real choice. As much as I would like to mother, but I _won’t_ be lodging on the couch.”, Mattie was right about that.  
  
“You can have Carmilla’s room.”, the mother said, as if it was settled.  
  
“I’m not sleeping on the couch either.”, Carmilla said, with her eyes on her mother, before averting them to her sister, “No offense, _I love you_ , but I won’t do that for you.”  
  
  
“You won’t have to. You can surely share a room with Laura. Her bed is big enough.”, the only male voice in the room rang. Oh, Greg was also here. And he said that without looking up from the newspaper he had been reading.  
  
“Uhm, darling, I don’t know if they both…”, Veronica started, her eyes darting from Laura to Carmilla, who both weren’t looking at each other (because maybe they would become too obvious then). To clarify: Carmilla and Laura both somehow were dreading the situation, but then again not, because… That gave them the excuse to spend the nights together without having to part due to suspicious parents.  
  
“Nonsense, they both are getting along so well… They can share a room… Right girls?”, Greg was such a sweetheart. Carmilla saw, where Laura got the optimism and big heart from.  
  
Huh, if he knew...  
  
“Sure.”  
“Right.”  
  
There came the response in unison. _Sure, right._

 

 

***

  
  
Laura was getting ready for bed, brushing her teeth in the bathroom, when Carmilla (already dressed in her sleeping clothes) came in through her side of the room. The blonde rinsed out her mouth and watched the other girl observe her for a minute, before she spoke up.  
  
  
“So uh… We’ll be sharing a room.”  
  
“Yeah I know.”  
  
“Right… And I’ll be sleeping in your room.”, Carmilla repeated to state out the obvious.  
  
Laura was wiping her face with a towel, “I know. I don’t have bedbugs you know? If that’s what you are worried about...”  
  
“What? I thought I was curling up on your floor or something.”  
  
“My bed is big enough for two. Didn’t you hear my dad?”  
  
“Right…”, Carmilla nodded (more to herself), “What if my mother barges in on us?”  
  
Laura was looking at her with an expression she couldn’t (or didn’t) want to decipher, “What do you think she could barge in on?”  
  
“Right, right.”, okay apparently Carmilla had developed a weird affinity to the word _right_.  
  
“Left.”, Laura deadpanned.  
  
“What?”  
  
  
The blonde shrugged, not wanting to make the other girl more uncomfortable (Which, sidenote: shouldn’t she be celebrating or something? They would be sharing a room, a bed even!), “Nothing. Is your sister comfortable in your room? I mean, if she wants to, she can have my room, it really is no big deal, it was hers before, so-”  
  
“What’s wrong with my room?”, they both made their ways into Laura’s bedroom, closing the bathroom door behind them.  
  
“Nothing, just checking.”  
  
“She will be fine.”, the brunette assured.  
  
Laura nodded, her hands buried deep in her dresser, trying to find something to wear to sleep. She couldn’t really sleep in her underwear anymore with someone else in the bed with her. The blonde was actually nervous, because she never had spend the night with someone without…  
  
She turned to see Carmilla sitting on the edge of her bed like a compliant puppy.  
  
  
“Would you mind…?”, Laura gestured for her to turn around.  
  
“What?”, clearly the brunette was too invested in her own thoughts to follow.  
  
“Unless you wanted to watch me get out of my clothes…?”, Laura was holding up pajama pants and a t-shirt.  
  
Carmilla’s lips curled up into a smirk, ready to say something inappropriate or something along the line of _‘I like watching, don’t be a prude.’_ , when Laura just huffed out a breath and started undoing the buttons on her shirt. Carmilla hadn’t thought that Laura wouldn’t care about someone watching her get undressed.  
  
“What the fuck are you doing??”, her eyes had grown wide, but she didn’t avert her gaze from the other girl’s revealed stomach and, and…  
  
“Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”, was Laura Hollis being smug now? That was so not- Carmilla turned her head, but from the corner of her eyes she saw the blonde getting out of her jeans, neatly folding them together. Couldn’t she hurry a little with covering her body parts? Ugh, it was the shower incident all over again, except now Carmilla was allowed to kiss her, if she wanted to (although she still wasn’t totally sure about that and sometimes caught herself wanting to ask).  
  
  
  
Laura and Carmilla were sitting on the floor again, much like the last several nights they had been talking about everything and nothing. Only this time they really didn’t exchange any words. There had been a few shy, stolen glances and some sighs.  
  
_Silence._  
  
Usually silence between them meant resentment or lately even it had turned into a comfortable quietness.  
  
However now it was something else completely. Now it was neither resentment, nor comfortable silence. Now it was uncomfortable awkwardness.  
  
  
Ready to break the ice between them, Laura finally looked at her stepsister, “Sooo… What did Mattie and you talk about over there?”  
  
Carmilla immediately lit up (good question), “She told me about her business. It is blooming. Mattie says, in a few years she’ll be able to expand, maybe to Europe or something. They value good quality garments and- Well it’s boring… We mostly talked about what she or I have been doing since summer. We haven’t seen each other since the wedding and the phone calls came rarely, so... We just did some catch-up.”  
  
“It’s nice to see her after such a long time, right?”, Laura sometimes wished that she had a sister. Or a sibling in general. Carmilla had been graced with two of them.  
  
“Yeah, I missed her. I miss her being around, just a bathroom separating us… It’s not the same anymore.”  
  
Laura nudged her gently, “Yeah, now it’s just me on the other side, huh?”  
  
Carmilla looked up, a genuine smile splayed across her lips, “Well, of course I like you being on the other side too… But…”  
  
The blonde frowned, “But?”  
  
“But I wish you weren’t. Sometimes I wish that our situation wouldn’t be like this.”  
  
“What do you mean?”  
  
“I wish I could kiss you in front of our parents, I wish I could hold your hand while I am at home. I already have to suppress it at school and I just… Sorry, it’s dumb.”  
  
  
Laura moved over to where Carmilla was seated, leaning her head on the other girl’s shoulder, “I’m sorry that you feel that way.”  
  
“Don’t be. It’s not your fault.”  
  
“It is… If I was out, then you wouldn’t have to suppress it at school…”, the blonde was playing with one of Carmilla’s hands.  
  
“Laura, you are forgetting that my mother is the principal of our school, so no. Even if that was the case, we would have to be careful.”  
  
  
True. High school romances shouldn’t have to be like that. However Laura Hollis was never known to take the easy way.  
  
Laura leaned back, watching Carmilla, who had her eyes trained on the floor in front of her, clearly lost in thoughts. She looked so peaceful. Her eyes were scanning the ground. Her eyes. They were so quick in the things she’d do. For instance reading. Laura had never met someone, who could read that fast. (When she wasn’t distracted.)  
  
The brunette felt a pair of eyes looking at her, so she also turned to meet the other girl’s gaze. There was a moment. A beat. But nothing else needed to be said. This whole situation was weird somehow, but also new and exciting.  
  
  
“Let’s go to bed, I’m sure my mother will wake us first thing in the morning. Family breakfast and all that.”, Carmilla was rising up and seated herself on the center of Laura’s bed. She had never dreamt of the possibility of herself being in that very bed. Not even in her sexual fantasies with Laura- not that there had been any. **Nope.** Never.  
  
The blonde stood up too, but instead of joining her stepsister on her bed, she went to go lock her door, turning around with a wicked grin. Carmilla was cocking her eyebrows, her body stiffening.  
  
_Well that was…_  
  
  
  
“You know we might as well take advantage of the situation.”, Laura was hopping onto her bed, making it wobble a little in the process and crawling to the other girl, who was still sitting crosslegged on her comforter.  
  
Carmilla gulped, audibly, “Is…”, she cleared her throat, because that squeaking noise was not her voice, “Is that so?”  
  
The dark haired girl already felt Laura’s breath on her chest, from all the proximity. Laura -still hadn’t lost that wicked grin from earlier- inched closer to her face and kissed the corner of her mouth, waiting, patiently.  
  
  
_Patience is a virtue._  
  
  
And Carmilla was anything but virtuous. Because the second Laura detached from Carmilla, said brunette nearly pounced on her, knocking her down, so that she was lying flat on her back and was kissing her thoroughly. Not that it was rough or anything, but eager. Almost as if they hadn’t kissed- well okay, they hadn’t made out properly since their first date. (Which included a full one hour kissing experience!)  
  
Carmilla’s weight was digging Laura into the mattress, and it was a great feeling- the greatest. Her body pressing down onto the blonde’s, her right hand roaming around her left side, gripping here and there, her left holding Laura’s face down, so she could plant kiss after kiss after kiss…  
  
  
  
Both were so caught up in their own catching up, that they didn’t hear the knock on the bathroom door.  
  
“Carmilla, I need you to-”, Mattie’s eyes were growing wide, taking in the sight in front of her.  
  
The brunette had her eyes closed, when she released Laura’s lip and let her forehead meet the blonde’s shoulder.  
  
“Fuck.”


	18. Big Sis Mattie

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “You don’t think that I’ll let anyone hurt you like that Ell again, do you?”

“Well _that_ is…”, Mattie was pressing her mouth into a thin line and quirking her eyebrows, “Carmilla a word?”, she looked at Laura, who had her eyes closed.  
  
Laura’s heart was beating out of her chest, and she nearly felt like fainting, when the weight on her shifted and Carmilla left her lying on her bed to join her sister in her own bedroom. The blonde stood up too and approached the connecting bathroom, she could hear them without having to get into the other room anyway.  
  
  
  
“I just knew from the start that this would happen... Carmilla, Laura is your sister!”  
  
“She’s not my sister. We are not related. Don’t say it like that. It makes me want to vomit.”, it was the brunette’s soothing voice that helped Laura with her horror of getting caught.  
  
  
_What if she tells? What if she tells? What if she tells?_  
  
  
“You and I aren’t related either, but am I **not** a sister to you?”  
  
“Mattie.”, she was taking a pause, exhaling deeply, “Of course you are, but we grew up together. Laura… She- Wait… Why aren’t you more surprised?”  
  
The laugh that escaped Mattie’s lips was obnoxiously loud, “Do you children think you are being subtle? I’ve known something was coming up the moment we went out as a family for the first time. Although, I gotta say, I didn’t think that little thing would give into you so quickly.”  
  
“You knew that she was into girls?”, it was Carmilla’s turn to be surprised. (And Laura along with it.)  
  
“Darling, there are certain things I caught up on my 7 years I have on you. Plus, she really isn’t subtle. You all are just so worked up with the idea of her that you fail to see the truth… Which is, why I have to tell you... Mother would die of an heart attack if she were to find out… You cannot use her as some little fling. If you just find her proximity convenient, then I suggest you to end-”  
  
  
Laura’s heart was picking up speed again, but this time out of other reasons.  
  
  
“She’s **not** what you think she is. I do like her for _more_.”  
  
Mattie was apparently sighing, “Excellent. Because _that_ is much better, hmn?”, the blonde finally understood, where Carmilla got her sarcasm from.  
  
“Mattie, I need you **not** to tell anyone.”  
  
There was a long pause again.  
  
“Please.”, Carmilla was begging. Something you wouldn’t encounter that often (although she did a ton lot of it lately- for a certain blonde stepsister).  
  
“Alright fine…”, Mattie finally conceded, “If you like that nymph that much, I can keep a little secret.”  
  
“Thanks.”  
  
“But Carmilla you both live under the same roof. You cannot do this while our parents are sleeping right on the other side of this hallway, a few feet away. Mother would really suffer from an heart attack. And what if you two don’t work-”  
  
“I’m gonna stop you right there, we don’t even know what _this_ is… Just trust me with this okay?”  
  
“Well… I will of course keep an eye out for you. I am your elder sister after all.”  
  
“What’s **that** supposed to mean?”, Carmilla’s voice sounded somewhat nervous.  
  
“You don’t think that I’ll let anyone hurt you like that Ell again, do you? It means, she will have to get through Matska Belmonde’s _girlfriend-material-test_.”  
  
“ _Girlfriend_ …? No one said anything about-”  
  
  
“Shush now Carmilla! _You little sap_... And now, I need you to set up the password for the wifi on my laptop. It doesn’t recognize the router anymore.”  
  
“Seriously? **That’s** why you-”, the brunette caught herself, giving off a resigned sigh, “Of course, Mattie.”  
  
  
Laura moved back to her bed and waited for Carmilla to crawl back onto it with her. Said brunette did emerge at the bathroom door after a few more minutes.  
  
  
As the dark haired girl exhaled deeply and closed the door behind her, leaning onto it, Laura dared to speak.  
  
  
“She knows.”  
  
“I know.”, came the instant reply.  
  
“What did we… I just…”  
  
“You know, it’s a pity that we _can’t_ lock the bathroom doors from this side.”, Carmilla let out rather humorlessly.  
  
“She’s not gonna tell anyone right? I mean, she…”, Laura trailed off, not really knowing what she was expecting.  
  
“Mattie’s not gonna tell anyone.”  
  
“Yeah?”, Carmilla was finally sauntering over to her and settling onto the bed, facing her.  
  
“She promised not to.”, Laura had heard their conversation, but it was more comforting, when Carmilla assured her.  
  
“Okay.”  
  
“We’ll be okay.”  
  
“Good.”

 

  
  
   
  
Just like Carmilla had predicted, both of the girls were woken up by Veronica with a knock on the door and a _‘Rise and shine, my beautiful daughters, it’s time for breakfast!’_. She hadn’t attempted to get in fortunately, because the door was still locked from the night before and it would have come off suspicious.  
  
Laura had yelled a _‘Coming!’_ towards the door, before trying to untangle herself from the tight grip in which she found herself. Carmilla was clutching onto her stomach, like she was some sort of teddy bear. Which was probably cute and all, and the blonde did enjoy sleeping next to her (all of her imaginations were correct- the feeling of waking up next to her was really great), however, the incident of the previous night hadn’t slipped her mind.  
  
  
_Mattie knew._  
  
  
And Laura had to pee. **ASAP.**  
  
  
“Carm…?”  
  
“Just because you’re cute, doesn’t mean I will wake up for you on a Saturday morning.”, the voice got muffled, because Laura’s hair was in the way.  
  
“Wake up for your mother? She is looking forward to the family breakfast thing.” _And I’m gonna have an accident soon._  
  
Carmilla actually held her tighter, simultaneously putting pressure on the blonde’s bladder, “No!”, she grumbled.  
  
  
“Do you wanna sleep in a puddle of my pee?”  
  
“What?”  
  
“Carm, I really have to use the bathroom, and if you hold me like this for another 5 minutes, the accident’s gonna happen in here and I don’t know your preferences in bed, but I highly doubt that _that’s_ how you spend your days with women in bed, so…”, she rambled on and Carmilla immediately lifted her arm to let Laura slip out of bed.  
  
“Thank you!”, the blonde called over her shoulder, as she rushed to the bathroom, which she found locked, “Ugh, seriously?”  
  
The lock snapped open the moment she said that, revealing a smirking Mattie from behind the door.  
  
Seriously, how could anyone look like they just came from a photo shooting for Vogue that early in the morning?  
  
  
  
“Why darling, you are small but a tiny ball of rage, it seems…”  
  
“Mattie, leave Laura alone…”, the brunette was speaking with a raspy morning voice, and woah there, she did sound sexy. (Laura hadn’t paid attention to that before.)  
  
“She awakes! Our highness is waking up! Would you look at that!”, Mattie was looking around now, not recognizing her old childhood-bedroom.  
  
“Can I use the bathroom please?”, Laura tried to be really polite (being intimidated by Carmilla’s _‘big sis’_ and all.).  
  
“Of course. All yours!”, she went back to Carmilla’s room and closed the door behind her.  
_  
Ugh._ Those x days with her that Mattie still hadn’t specified, would be interesting.

 

  
   
  
“Dad when are you going to drop me off on Tuesday?”, Laura asked her father during breakfast.  
  
Greg looked at her in surprise, “I actually was hoping that we all would be celebrating Christmas together this year.”  
  
“But you never are home for it…”, the blonde commented, clearly not expecting that answer. Carmilla was curious now too.  
  
“I took off this year. And thought we could drive to Joseph and Edith’s house another time. I already told them that you won’t be spending it there this year.”  
  
Laura was so accustomed to spending her Christmases with the parents of her passed mother, because Greg hadn’t found the time in all those years to spend it with her, that she hadn’t thought of it. **The family.** They had a family to spend it with this year. A family that included _her_ … Carmilla. The blonde met the brunette’s gaze (Mattie had caught onto that and hid her smirk behind her coffee cup).  
  
  
“If you still want to go, I guess your father can call up your grandparents, right Greg?”, Veronica tried to help.  
  
“No, absolutely **not** … I would love to spend it with you guys… Maybe we can visit them some time after Christmas?”, she asked her dad hopefully. She didn’t want to let her grandparents down either.  
  
“Of course. This year is going to be great.”, Greg smiled fondly.  
  
“I bet it will. Especially now that Mattie is here to join us. Ahh, I am so excited for this! I even bought a tree yesterday!”, Veronica was looking at everyone at the table.  
  
 “We are a little late for _that_ aren’t we?”, Carmilla remarked, sipping on her plain black coffee. Something Laura found utterly gross, because duh, where was the sugar and the cream?  
  
  
Mattie was the one to join the conversation now, “Isn’t mother every year? I remember one time, when you and William were about seven… Mother bought the tree on the twenty-third.”  
  
“Well this year I am right on time! We still have 5 more days to set the tree up and everything and you all will be helping!”, the mother announced.  
  
“Great, so much festivity.”, Will groaned.  
  
  
“Who spit in your pancakes?”, Carmilla asked her twin, who only glared at her.  
  
“Why are _you_ so chipper? You don’t even like the holidays.”, he fired back.  
  
The brunette looked at Mattie, and then to Laura, who was seated opposite to her, “I’m just glad we all are here together and… _Jeez, sorry_ …”  
  
“Don’t apologize, dear. You have a right to be festive! And now, William, go help Greg bring the tree in!”  
  
And he groaned again.  
  
  
  
  
  
“Carm did you really not want to go to the mall with me?”, Laura asked her stepsister hopefully, who was lying in her bed, reading a book. The blonde liked the picture of Carmilla in her bed… It made her think of-  
  
  
“ **I** would like to come with you, midget. I haven’t been in a real shopping mall for a long time.”, Mattie’s voice rang out from Carmilla’s room. The dark haired girl looked in alarm, and threw the book onto Laura’s bed.  
  
“You are _what_?!”, she was standing, and peeking over to her sister on the other side of the bathroom.  
  
“I am joining _our stepsister_ in her shopping spree, why Carmilla?”  
  
Laura was looking at Carmilla in mild shock, so the brunette relented, “Fine, I’ll come too.”  
  
“Great. This will be a good time to do _sisterly bonding_.”, Mattie was smiling in that particular way (oh, she was **so** enjoying that whole situation).

  
Laura cringed, when Mattie mentioned _sisterly bonding._

  
  
  
Some hours of shopping could tire you. What was better than getting milk shakes? (Mattie had of course gotten herself a coffee. Milk shakes did contain dairy and she was lactose intolerant and all, plus really those things could also be called _a ticket for diabetes and high cholesterol_.)  
  
  
Mattie, the annoying big sister as she was, made her words from the night before true, “So Laura, how is _school_ going for you?”  
  
“She is a model student. Straight As and all.”, Carmilla threw in, not really letting the blonde talk for herself.  
  
“And how’s the father?”  
  
Laura squinted her eyes, “You saw him today morning.”  
  
“I cannot think of any questions to remain somewhat semi-polite. I mean, we live under the same roof after all, so I will cut to the essentials, yes?”  
  
Laura swallowed thickly and looked at her- Carmilla in sheer panic and confusion, “ _Essentials_?”  
  
  
“What are you doing with Carmilla?” Oh. _Oh!_  
  
“What do you mean, what am I doing?”  
  
“I don’t need to know about the dirty little details. What I meant is, what are your intentions with her?”  
  
“Intentions?”, Laura asked, clearly confused.

Carmilla groaned and covered her face with one hand. “Mattie…”, the youngest one pleaded.

  
  
Mattie huffed out, “I thought she was ought to be smart?”, she looked at her sister.  
  
“Hey!”, Laura finally found some courage, “I am sitting right here you know? And just so you know, I am not trying to _use_ Carm or anything… I mean, if I had that in mind, wouldn’t you think it would be easier with someone, who wasn’t my stepsister and who didn’t live across the hallway under the same roof? Who’s the not-so-smart one now?”  
  
Big sis was impressed, for a little while at least, “Would you look at that?”  
  
“What?”, Laura really tried hard not to roll her eyes.  
  
“You have bite in you. She is a feisty, little girl.”, Mattie met Carmilla’s gaze, “I see, why you like her.”  
  
“Oh, you have no idea just how much…”, the dark haired girl looked at her stepsister adoringly.  
  
“How much you like me or how feisty I am?”, Laura asked a little confused.  
  
Carmilla took a moment to answer, but finally she did after a click of her tongue, “Your bite, cutie.”

  
  
  
  
“Do you think I should talk to William? Him and Carmilla usually never feel up to celebrating since... But for the first time  _you_ came home for Christmas… And we all know, how much Carmilla loves you, it is nice to see her happy around December... But Will... He seems so angry all the time.”, Veronica was having a talk with the eldest one of her children.  
  
Mattie, who knew that it was certainly not only thanks to her that her little sister was being festive this year responded with reservation, “Let him be, he will warm up. I had a nice little chat with him yesterday. He told me that he met some girl and we caught up in old manner.”  
  
  
“Did he talk about Laura too?”  
  
Mattie frowned, “Why? What do you mean?”  
  
“William seemed to have a thing for her. Ridiculous those kids…”  
  
“Interesting. I do not see the big downside of it though.”, Mattie laughed in her head, not wanting to give away her sister. _Twins, go figure._  
  
“It’s as if you and Carmilla would all of a sudden start dating. That’s just distasteful, you know? But those horny teenagers don’t understand.”  
  
“Mother Laura is not someone they grew up with, remember? Plus if you and Greg wouldn’t have gotten married, they would just happen to be two kids that met in high school.”, Mattie was cautious not to mention solely Carmilla and Laura. She groaned inwardly. That was not something she signed up for. However, she would do everything for her _little monster_.  
  
Veronica tapped her temple with her forefinger, “It’s still a lot to process. I mean imagine, they would _do things_ under my roof! And I wouldn’t be even able to ground either one of them, because both live here and it is just too easy to…”  
  
  
“Do things?”  
  
“Have sex under my roof, Matska. Will and Laura are teenagers!” _Mother, if you knew._  
  
Mattie laughed out loud now, “You do realize that they are all not so innocent, as you paint them out to be, hmn? Especially not your darling daughter.”  
  
“Yes, but I don’t worry for Carmilla that much. I mean, the possibility of her getting pregnant is a very thin one.”  
  
“So your main concern lays on… The one child that is _not your_ kid?”  
  
“She is.”, Veronica said sternly, “I married Greg and his daughter with him. She is just as much of a daughter to me, like you or Carmilla are. And that is exactly why none of my children, no matter if blood related or not, should date.”  
  
“I see.”

 

  
  
  
“Hey Carm?”, Laura was staring at the ceiling, while her stepsister was reading a book in her bed. They both had agreed on no kissing- or at least no making out, until Mattie was leaving.  
  
“Hmn?”  
  
“Do you think one can die from not kissing someone they want to kiss?”  
  
Carmilla snorted and laughed out furiously from her side of the bed.  
  
Laura glared at her, “Shut up, as if you didn’t want to.”  
  
  
“I didn’t say that, but we agreed on trying to not get caught again during these holidays, remember? It’s actually harder now that you’re here. I would have liked to miss you more than have you here and not being able to just…”, the brunette inched closer to the girl she desired to kiss.  
  
“Carm… You can’t just…”, the blonde breathed out, but her body was betraying her, as she too turned on her side and looked Carmilla in the eyes. Somehow her own eyes didn’t want to stay put and darted to her lips the whole time. To her lips, to her neck, to that freaking sharp jawline and then to her clavicles and the way Carmilla’s t-shirt let her see enough of her cleavage.  
  
  
Yep, she was _totally_ gay.  
  
  
“I can’t just **what**?”, it was only above a whisper.  
  
“We agreed on _you know_... And you are being-” _Totally sexy and your lips look pretty kissable and I can see your cleavage just fine from here, thank you very much for that one!_ Ah, words. They do not come so easily, when you are thinking about _things_.  
  
“Unresolved sexual tension is such a bad thing though…”, Carmilla drawled, sending shivers down Laura’s spine.

 _Oh god, so gay._ How could she have ever denied her super-perfect chemistry with Carmilla?

  
“ _Sexual_ tension….?”, not that she was complaining, but they hadn’t really had the opportunity to give in to _that_ yet.  
  
Carmilla rolled her eyes, “It’s called that, you spaz. Not everything has to be about sex.”, she rolled over, taking her book seriously again.  
  
_What the hell did just happen? Come over here and make it sexual!_

Okay no, rather not, but a girl was allowed to dream. Of sexy stepsisters on top of you and... Yeah, totally normal.   
  
  
“Is everything alright?”, Laura asked, clearly flustered and all kinds of hot (which was weird, considering the fact that they were in the middle of a freaking cold-ass winter).  
  
“Yeah sure, why?”  
  
“Because we were almost in the midst of making out and you just snapped and stopped.”  
  
Carmilla turned to her, arching an eyebrow, “No one ever said _no_ to you before?”  
  
“Actually.”, Laura was giggling, “No.”  
  
“Well then, Creampuff. You should get used to it, plus it is safer that way. Remember, we did not want to get caught, right?”  
  
“Yeah? I thought you liked me so much though.”, Laura was wiggling with her eyebrows.  
  
“Get over yourself.”, Carmilla smirked in her direction. Okay that seemed like teasing. That was good or something...  
  
  
Laura couldn’t shake off the feeling that something was wrong, so she sat up in bed and flicked away Carmilla’s book, making her huff out and roll her eyes.  
  
  
“It’s way past everyone’s bedtime and you don’t wanna kiss me. What’s up?”  
  
“Nothing’s up.”, the dark haired girl shrugged.  
  
“Carm, I’m being serious here.”  
  
“Jeez, I told you nothing’s up.”, Carmilla rolled her eyes and scooted to the other girl, craning her neck and in the slightest of efforts, placed a chaste kiss on her stepsister’s lips, “You happy? Now go to sleep. Sharing a room with you and seeing you all the time sure is getting on my nerves.”  
  
Laura’s eyes grew wide and she opened her mouth in shock.  
  
“Ugh, no, I didn’t mean it like _that_. Usually you can sense my sarcasm and teasing tone.”  
  
“No yeah, it’s okay, I get it. You are a pain in the ass too. I hate the fact that you are a fucking blanket-hog.”, Laura responded, giving that girl a taste of her own medicine.  
  
“I am not!”  
  
“Yes you are.”, Laura was lying down and facing away from the girl beside her, who sneakily came closer.  
  
  
“You still like me though, right?”, Carmilla asked into the dark room.  
  
“No.”, Laura wasn’t successful in extracting her smile from the monosyllabic word.  
  
“It’s okay. As long as I get to kiss you though.”  
  
  
“Yeah…”, Laura said absentmindedly, playing with the hand that was splayed across her stomach.  
  
  
  
Something wasn’t right, but Laura had other days to figure out, what it was.

For now getting to fall asleep beside the girl of her dreams was enough.


	19. Carmunication

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Am I your girlfriend?”

Christmases come and they go. The festivities did come to an end on the 26th eventually.  
  
Mattie had announced that she would be going to Morocco shortly before New Year’s and Laura couldn’t help, but notice that Carmilla had become distant. More than the days before even.  
  
There she was, lying on her bed, like every day in the previous week, reading one of her countless _depressing shit books_ , as Laura would fondly call them, not really paying any attention to the blonde.  
  
  
  
“What’s up with you?”, the blonde broke the silence, after turning on her revolving chair and facing the other girl.  
  
Carmilla, peeked up from the top, throwing her a look that was intense and empty at the same time, “What do you mean?”  
  
“You’ve been… Distant.”  
  
“I can’t do _stuff_ 24/7 with you in this house, Laura. Not since everyone’s around all the time.”  
  
The older girl shook her head, “That’s not what I mean. I’m not the only one you’re distancing yourself from.”  
  
Carmilla sighed, putting her book on the nightstand beside her, “I’m fine.”  
  
“Don’t lie to me. You never lied to me…”, Laura bit her lip thoughtfully, “Or at least I don’t think so.”  
  
“I never did.” Not even about having feelings for her. The first chance it seemed appropriate, she spilled.  
  
“Then tell me, what’s going on. Why are you broodier than usual?”  
  
Carmilla stood up and moved her body over to the window, snow was piling up in their backyard and it was so untouched, just like a winter wonderland. She let out an exasperated sigh.  
  
  
“Do you ever wonder why? When she left, why it happened?”, the dark haired girl looked back, to see Laura standing in arm’s reach behind her, “Your mother.”, she explained.  
  
The blonde had a pained expression on her face, which was quickly replaced with a frown, “She died in a car accident. She didn’t leave by choice.”  
  
Carmilla blinked, as if she just realized (although she did know of that), “Right. Sorry, I didn’t mean- I’m sorry, I made you think about _that_.”  
  
“It’s okay…”, Laura was standing beside her now, “Is this about your dad?”  
  
Carmilla’s face hardened, her gaze trained on the white scenery outside. After a while she spoke up again.  
  
  
  
“He left all those years ago and it’s all a blur. I realized that I don’t remember his face-“, she shrugged, “I don’t remember his face, Laura.”  
  
“Do you want to? I mean, remember him… It helps sometimes to look at pictures, you know? I do that, when I miss my mom-”  
  
“I **don’t** miss him.”, Carmilla shot back instantly, her eyes snapping to Laura’s, who backed away a bit, because of the harshness.  
  
  
The brunette hesitated, before she slowly passed the blonde and made her way downstairs. Laura remembered, what she had caught onto the last couple of weeks. Carmilla was a good actress. Except she wasn’t. All the anguish was written on her face and the resentment towards her father was just an easy way out. Laura knew that feeling far too well.  
  
Carmilla was missing her dad.  


 

***

  
  
“What are you doing down here? Shouldn’t you and Carmilla be celebrating an empty house for once?”, Mattie asked the blonde, who was sitting all by herself in the living room.  
  
  
“Carm’s being weird for days now and I don’t know, what I can do.”  
  
Mattie immediately put on a serious mien, “Do you know why she is that way?”  
  
“I know that it’s about her dad and that he left during this time, but she won’t talk to me about it.”  
  
“Ah, well yes. She isn’t really the _lovey-dovey-type_. She gets mad and locks herself up and things like these.”  
  
“Yeah well, I am not exactly in the mood for those things.”  
  
The older woman sat beside her stepsister, “Just don’t push her away, even though she is acting like she is doing exactly that to you. Ultimately it’s one of her ways of finding out, if you’ll still stick to her, even if she’s nasty.”  
  
“Yeah, I figured that one out by myself, thanks.”  
  
“Do I sense hostility towards me?”, Mattie was raising her brow.  
  
“No.”, Laura sighed, “Sorry, it’s not _you._ I just like her a lot and it’s frustrating that sometimes she’s open like a book and then other times I can’t seem to get through her.”  
  
“If you like her that much, you can be a little patient. She’s like that.”  
  
“Yeah, but I don’t just wait for better times. It’s not one of my fortes. The Hollises… Hollis people- No, _that_ doesn’t sound right either… Ugh… **We** actively try to make people feel better!”  
  
“God, you are a very strange one.”  
  
“Yeah, well. Maybe _strange_ is the new cute.”  
  
Mattie snickered, “I’m absolutely positive that Carmilla would agree with you on that one.”  
  
  
  
  
  
“Carmilla, would you and Laura please put the decoration back up to the attic? Will and Greg have gone out to get rid of the tree!”, Veronica shouted through Laura’s open bedroom door.  
  
The brunette groaned inwardly, before putting her phone away and going on the search for her stepsister. (Who she found lounging on the couch, watching some cartoons.)  
  
  
“Hadn’t thought you were the Spongebob-kinda girl, but I can always be mistaken.”  
  
The blonde jumped up, “Gosh, what is it with you and scaring me? You move around like a cat sometimes.”  
  
“Get up lazy pants, and help me with the stuff.”, Carmilla commanded and pointed towards said thing that was marked as _‘Christmas decor anno 2007’_.  
  
  
  
  
“Oh my gosh, Carm! You guys have great stuff up here!”, Laura exclaimed, as she was looking around the 50 square meter space.  
  
The dark haired girl smiled at the other girl’s amazement, “You know, you live here too. This is _your_ house now too.”  
  
“Well yeah, you know what I meant…”, the blonde rolled her eyes and unceremoniously sat down beside some boxes and began rummaging around.  
  
“That’s invasion of privacy, cutie.”, Carmilla arched a brow.  
  
“You literally just said that it was **my** house too… Plus… It says Carmilla… And I’m pretty sure, if I begged you enough, you’d cave in and let me snoop around in this one.”, she was sitting right beside that one- _Great._  
  
Carmilla’s eyes went wide. That box contained baby pictures of her. _Naked, embarrassing- totally not cool_ _baby pictures_ of her.  
  
“Uh!”, she hurried to the girl, who was already fishing out a photo album, “We are alone here, we could totally…”, she lead Laura’s arm onto her own waist, plucking away said _naked-pictures-containing-thing_ and sloppily began kissing the other girl, who hummed in surprise.

  
“Mmm-”, Laura deepened the kiss, before leaning away, “As much as I’d like that… Common, let me at least go through one of those albums. I wanna see you as a kid.”  
  
“Ugh…”, Carmilla made it very clear that she was not happy about it at all, but gave the album back anyway, plopping down onto the floor as well.  
  
Laura opened the album and immediately smiled. It was a picture of Veronica and 6 year old Mattie smiling beside two cute little babies in a crib. Someone wrote _‘Mommie and Mattie and Millie and Willie’_ under the picture. The blonde figured it had been the _‘big sis’_ herself. My gosh, who would have thought that she was a _cute little monster_ once too.

  
“Millie?”, the blonde teased and looked up to be met with an eye roll, “And I thought _Carmie_ was cute.”  
  
“Oh my god. Why did I ever let you do this to me?”, Carmilla buried her face in her hands.  
  
“Because you happen to find me irresistible.”, the blonde giggled and averted her gaze back to the pictures.  
  
Carmilla finally relented and joined her in, going through the memory lane herself, “I was so much better than Will as a baby. He was the big pooper.”  
  
Laura turned the page and- yup, Carmilla wanted to evaporate. LaFontaine should totally try to invent something that could help her with that- because there were the first nudes of her life. Presented to the girl she liked the most. _How perfect._  
  
  
“Model.”, Laura chuckled softly, “You look so freaking cute. I can’t believe it’s you!”  
  
The next thing that annoyed the brunette. She was by far not adorable. Ugh. She was cool and unaffected and yeah, she let people call her hot, because that spurred her on, but anyone calling her cute? _Na-ah._  
  
  
“Cute only goes with _you_ , Creampuff. I’m nowhere near cute.”  
  
Laura lifted an eyebrow and pointed to a picture, in which (in her opinion) Carmilla was nibbling on a teething ring.  
  
  
“You wound me, Laura.”  
  
“What? Why?”  
  
“That’s not me. That’s Will. He’s the one with the blue eyes. Mine are dark? Do you not know the color of my eyes?”, Carmilla cocked her head towards the picture, and the blonde looked more closely.  
  
“But I read that article that every newborn has blue eyes, did you know that?”  
  
“It’s not the same as being born with blue eyes… And besides, it’s still Will. I was the _cute one_ , remember?”, the brunette smirked, and watched the blonde’s face scrunch up and then ease into a more serious expression. Carmilla’s eyes followed her to the picture she was looking at, and her heart stopped.  
  
It was one of her father holding her up and kissing the top of her head, while she was clutching onto the collar of his polo shirt. She looked happy in it.  
  
  
“That your dad?”, Laura asked insecurely.  
  
“Yep.”, Carmilla’s heart clenched. It was hurting. It hurt so much, and she tried to block it out. Nothing could block out this pain though. She was unwanted. He didn’t want her. She was his little girl, she’d been his little girl, even though he got violent and a drunken mess. He always had been there for his little girl. And then one day. _Poof._ Out in the world, out of her world. The pain was nauseating, and she just couldn’t take it anymore. She needed something to distract herself.

  
“He was handsome… I mean, you look totally like your mother, but the sharp jaw line… That’s your father’s doing… I-”, suddenly the album was yanked away from her and closed with a quick thud and Carmilla was in her space in no time, placing her mouth onto hers and starting to kiss her.  
  
Laura was taken off guard, much like the first time, when Carmilla had made an attempt to stop her from going through the stuff, but this time it was with so much vigour that it left her no other choice than to give in. Carmilla was everywhere. All of Laura’s senses were filled with her.  
  
  
_Sight._  
  
Even though her eyes were closed all the time, she could see her own blood pulsating in her eyelids. That’s what people described as seeing stars, when kissing someone.  
  
_Smell._  
  
The scent of Carmilla was inebriating. Her shampoo was that mix of musk and something flowery, the scent of her body was a different kind of intoxicating.  
  
_Hearing._  
  
All Laura could hear was the faint hammering in her own body that made the perfect rhythm and she just hoped that Carmilla wouldn’t be the death of her.  
  
_Touch._  
  
Carmilla was clutching onto Laura, like her life depended on her. (Little did the blonde know that it really felt like that to her in that moment.)  
  
_Taste._  
  
The blonde relished in every little contact there was, but the best part of kissing Carmilla was to get to taste her. And- Well, she was a sucker for her perfect tongue technique.  
  
  
Laura was pushed backwards, until her head hit the floor behind her. It didn’t particularly hurt, but still, they were on a floor - _horizontally_ \- and making out like two horny teenagers (not that they weren’t, but still…).  
  
Carmilla was stroking the blonde’s stomach through her shirt, and slowly moved her hand from there to her hip, then to her waist and then- Laura inhaled sharply, when the dark haired girl shoved her hand under her shirt and simultaneously trailed kissed down her neck.  
  
Not that she wanted to stop any of that. She really wanted to go on, Carmilla was good with her hands, lips, just _everything_. That girl knew, what she was doing, but this would not happen like this. Certainly not in the attic, in the midst of getting caught and not while she was apparently upset over her dad.  
  
  
“Carm-”, she was shushed with yet another kiss, in which Laura lost herself.  
  
Carmilla was dragging her nails upwards on her stomach, and Laura caught her hand just in time to prevent her from going too far.  
  
“Wait, wait, wait…”, the brunette was backing away in no time.  
  
“What?”  
  
“We can’t…”, Laura tried to control her breathing. Her hair was all over the place and her shirt was still revealing her stomach from where it had ridden up due to Carmilla’s movements and her lips were dark red from all the kissing that had taken place just some seconds ago. She was beautiful that way.  
  
Carmilla immediately was reminded of, why exactly she was such a sucker for that girl. Even now- although she was annoyed as hell. (Well aware of the fact that it wasn’t because of Laura per se, she knew that what she was doing was wrong.)  
  
Laura was licking her lips, trying to come up with words, “You- That was-”, she swallowed down, “We should totally continue this, but not here, when your mom and my dad are lurking around downstairs and most certainly not when… You are like _this_.”  
  
The dark haired girl glared at her, “Like **what** , Laura?” Every ounce of bitterness was packed into that sentence. Gritted teeth, bitchy face. Oh yes, Carmilla Karnstein could totally not be cute. Instead she could apparently be a freaking huge asshole. “You wanted to fuck this whole time, didn’t you? And now you are saying _no_ to me?”  
  
The blonde winced, and closed her eyes, “Don’t talk to me like _that_.”  
  
“Whatever.”, Carmilla was well aware of how much she could ruin with that sentence, but she couldn’t care in that moment. The pain that was to hurt Laura overshadowed the other. And that was a start, right? Why did it feel like a little closer to the end then?  
  


 

***

  
  
“Darling?”, Mattie was gently shaking her little sister awake, who was lying uncomfortably on the couch, “I’ll be leaving Carmilla, won’t you say good bye?”  
  
The brunette jolted awake, murmuring something, “Mattie…”, her eyes were half open and she looked around the room, not remembering for a moment, where she was.  
  
Oh right, she had slept on the couch in the last two days causing everyone to be a little suspicious about everything. She had shrugged it off as not wanting to be a pain in the ass for Laura and her own bed wasn’t big enough to share with Mattie and quite frankly Carmilla just wanted to wallow alone in her sorrows. She’d laughed at herself for pitying herself so much. Who does that?  
  
  
“You’ll be back soon, right?”, Carmilla asked with big eyes. Mattie hated her for that. No one could say no to her like this. That girl knew, how to play unfair.  
  
“I’ll try. You know that I’m busy.”  
  
“Yeah, I know.”, the younger girl shrugged, “It’s still nice to see you once in a while, y’know?”  
  
“You tell me, when you wanna see me and I’ll send you a plane ticket. You know that I love having you over there, right? I’ll take you to Fez and Marrakech again… You can even… _Bring a guest._ ”, she looked at her knowingly.  
  
“Yeah no- I don’t think I’ll have someone to bring.”, the dark haired girl that was fighting with keeping her eyes open, was looking at her mother, who was all ready to drive her sister to the airport.  
  
“You can fix everything. Whatever it is. She’s probably just waiting for you to open up and talk to her. She is not like you and me, Carmilla.”, the last two sentences were whispered.  
  
The brunette rolled her eyes, why did Mattie know more about the girl of her dreams than her again?  
  
“And now, stand up, you lazy girl and hug me!”  


 

***

  
  
Danny and Laura were at their favorite coffee place, the blonde clearly out of it, poking on her pie (which she barely touched). The redhead observed her for some minutes, before finally questioning her about her wellbeing- not taking the usual _‘I’m super fine’_ crap.  
  
“Laura seriously, what the hell is wrong with you? You’re really weird since like _forever_ and I’m trying to be a good friend here and trying to respect your choices of not telling me things, but it’s gotta stop. All you do is acting like… _This_. And you won’t talk to me, but I’m your best friend for fuck’s sake!”  
  
“Carm and I are dating!”, Laura blurted out and groaned, “God, I didn’t mean to tell you like _this_ , but yeah…”  
  
“Wait **what**?”  
  
The blonde covered her face with her hands, “Or at least I think we are? We kind of didn’t talk the last few days and it’s getting weirder by the day and I thought we were having that connection, but all she does is close up when it gets real and I just…”  
  
Danny shook her head slightly, still not truly grasping the provided information, “I’m sorry- **What**?”  
  
“Carmilla? You know, my stepsister? _Miss Doom and Gloom_ and I? We kind of are a thing.”  
  
“You and…? And you…?”, the redhead frowned, “Since when? How…? What?”  
  
“Since like prom?”  
  
“You’ve been together for a month now and- Wait, prom?”  
  
“Well actually that whole thing’s been going on for a while, but I kissed her at prom and things kinda developed ever since? We haven’t defined anything yet, but I mean whatever is going on… Is going on for two weeks now…”, Laura felt the nervous blush creep up her cheeks and neck.  
  
“Why?”  
  
“Why what?”  
  
“You and her… It just doesn’t fit…”  
  
“What do you mean?”  
  
“I thought you wanted something permanent?”  
  
“Jeez, Danny, I am in high school and you make it sound like I wanna get married in the next few years.”  
  
“Well, those were _your_ words. Carmilla… She-”  
  
“I know what you think of her. She really isn’t like that at all. Carm’s like the most respectful girl I’ve encountered… She hasn’t even tried to sleep with me, if that’s what you’re thinking now.”  
  
_Beside that one time two days ago, which kinda was awk_ , Laura added in her mind.  
  
“No… That-”, the redhead made a face of disgust, “Is that why you’ve been miserable all the time? Because it’s not really ideal, if you’re in a relationship or whatever with your stepsister… I mean…”  
  
“Well… Before it was because of only _that_ and because I couldn’t really talk about it and now it’s-”, she stopped herself, she felt stupid, “We are having a rough time right now. Carm’s dad left them at Christmas some years back and she kinda is being distant and I triggered the pain or something, while going through old pictures and she kinda snapped and- Sorry, I am talking entirely too much and you probably don’t wanna hear about her…”  
  
Danny smiled compassionately, and covered Laura’s hand with hers, “Hey, you can talk about her with me… I mean guessing from your words, you haven’t told the others?”  
  
“No…”  
  
“I may not be her biggest fan, but I know that you have a good judge in character and if you say she’s a decent enough person, then I’ll trust you of course.”  
  
“Really?”, the blonde seemed to light up a bit.  
  
“Yeah, I do. Plus, I don’t think she’s _that_ horrible…”, Danny squirmed a bit, and added hastily, “Don’t tell her I said that.”  
  
“Of course not.”, Laura chuckled, “Thanks, Dan. It really means a lot.”  
  
“Sure thing, Hollis… And now tell me, how on earth you managed to fall for _Grumpy Pants_.”  
  
“Why? Is the seduction eyes thing not a valid point anymore?”  
  
Danny frowned, “You know that I said that out of rage, right? I didn’t really mean to be so crude…”  
  
“I know…”, Laura nodded and began telling her version of how she fell for her stepsister. Danny listened to her carefully (making sure to tease Laura here and there about her inappropriate crushing over her family member -related or not).  


 

***

  
  
Laura entered the house to find it fairly empty, she found Will curled up on the couch, watching some old soccer game rerun. She frowned. Her favorite team was playing and she kind of had looked forward to having the TV for herself.  
  
“Hey.”, she greeted curtly and motioned towards the armchair, “Do you mind?”  
  
He looked up warily, “No…”, she nodded a thanks and made herself comfortable, “Do you watch soccer?”  
  
“Yeah, well sometimes I do…”, she fixated her gaze on the screen. She had seen that game already, but didn’t mind. She needed something to distract her from her confused state.  
  
Will hesitated a moment, before asking, “What team do you support?”  
  
“The Panthers of course. Who would support Hartford?”  
  
The boy chuckled, “You support them because they have a cat on their jersey, am I right?”  
  
Laura glared at him, “I support them, because I like them since like forever, and they have been kickass since the beginning of last season. And what the hell? You know that I play soccer.”  
  
“Yeah, not only a princess…”, he muttered and looked at the TV screen again.  
  
“And you can be semi-nice and not trying to hit on me every second sentence, that’s an improvement, Will.”  
  
“Well, I don’t like to wound my ego more than twice, or thrice or whatever the number of times is you declined me.”  
  
Laura looked at him sympathetically, it wasn’t his fault, or hers either. “Sorry about that, you know? For prom, I mean… I didn’t mean to- I didn’t know you were really having feelings for me.”  
  
“ _I didn’t._ ”, he said nonchalantly, not meeting her gaze. He was so like his twin. Laura could read one, so she could read the other too.  
  
“Okay.”, she offered a small smile, “Then no harm no foul, hmn?”  
  
“Right. Are we talking soccer now? Because Brockovic just made a major mistake.”, he cocked his head to the TV.  
  
Laura giggled, “Penalty kick it is.”  
  
  
Soon enough they talked about everything else, and Laura learned that even Will had his sweet sides. The Karnsteins were all full of hidden soft spots.  
  
  
“So… Will?”  
  
“Yeah?”  
  
“Your dad… Does Carm talk about him a lot with you?”  
  
He laughed out loud, “Trust me, I am the last person she would talk to about him.”  
  
“Why?”  
  
“Because I remember her of him and because I’m the only one who understands her.”  
  
Laura frowned, “Doesn’t that make you her number one go to place for her feelings?”  
  
“My sister and feelings? Are we talking the same girl? She tucks them away in her iron vault. I thought _ **I**_ was bad… She’s another level of closed-up.”  
  
“Wow… I never thought that you would think about things like that.”  
  
“I do know what she’s going through. Although I may not be a hundred percent right all the time, but I know what’s going on her mind, we grew up together, hell, we are twins. We may not get along super well at times, but she’s my sister and I love her nonetheless.”  
  
Laura gaped at his words, “William Karnstein, did you just say that out loud?”  
  
  
“Did he say _what_ out loud?”, Carmilla suddenly emerged from nowhere.  
  
Will and Laura shared a look. A secret understanding that it was between them, and the blonde understood without a word.  
  
“Nothing.”, Laura offered and stood up to make her way upstairs. She didn’t regard her stepsister with eye-contact.  
Carmilla observed her ascending the stairs, before turning to Will, who looked at her suspiciously.  
  
  
“What’s going on with the two besties? Did you screw up?”, the guy asked his sister.  
  
“Why does every bad thing that happens, always have to be me doing something wrong?”  
  
Will frowned, “Sorry, jeez. I thought you were feeling so super festive? What’s got you so on edge?”  
  
“Well the holidays are over.”  
  
“Not yet. New year’s is tomorrow…”  
  
“That’s not even a real holiday.”, the brunette argued.  
  
“True that, kitty, but… There is a party at Kirsch’s place and uhm…”, he didn’t know why, but ever since Laura (unconsciously) pointed out that Carmilla probably was sharing his little low over the holidays, he felt bad for his sister, “You and Laura should come… I mean, Laura probably is gonna be there anyway, but you… You should come.”  
  
Carmilla was raising her brow, looking at him in suspicion, “Uh-huh… I’ll see, I guess?”  
  
“Well, whatever you decide, sis. I was just trying to be nice.”  
  
“You’re _never_ nice to me.”  
  
Will rolled his eyes, “You’re my sister. That whole messing around comes with the brother-sister package. We… You know, get each other. I’m your older brother… You know that I care for you, right?”  
  
“You are barely older and- **Ew** , since when do you say things like _that_?”  
  
“Shut up.”, he glared at her and was aware of his own choice of words, “Maybe I’ll see you- Or not, you know, ‘cause _I don’t really care_ and stuff.”  
  
“Uh-huh.”  


 

***

  
  
Laura was warily looking at herself in the mirror, when a voice behind her startled her.  
  
“Look at yourself longer and the mirror might swallow you.”  
  
“What did we say about the scaring thing?”, the blonde let out annoyingly.  
  
“Gosh, Creampuff, sorry.”  
  
“Oh don’t _‘Creampuff’_ me, Carmilla.”, the blonde rolled her eyes and got into her own room, the dark haired girl following suit.  
  
  
  
“Sorry.”  
  
“Carm, you can’t just expect me to-”, Laura turned around with a frown, “Wait… You said **what** now?”  
  
“I said, _I’m sorry_.”  
  
“For what exactly?”, the blonde’s eyes observed the other girl meticulously, as she padded over to her in cautious, hesitant steps.  
  
“For _you know_ …”, Carmilla let out rather vaguely, not meeting Laura’s eyes.  
  
“No, I **don’t** know, because you could be sorry for being distant to me for a whole fucking week, or you could be sorry for- I don’t know, being a dick about me not wanting to have our first time in the freaking attic and accusing me, may I add for the umpteenth time, of me only wanting to fuck you- or you could be apologizing for ignoring me after that whole thing happened and making me feel like I was the one, who did something wrong. Which one is it, Carmilla?”, Laura’s way of saying her full name made the brunette flinch.  
  
“For all of those things… I- Laura, I don’t- I know, I am not so good with the whole feelings thing… I’m still learning. I mean- I like you, _I really, really like you_ and I didn’t mean to mess up so badly and I shouldn’t have been a dick about all of that, it’s just…”  
  
Laura approached the girl now, “It’s just?”  
  
“I’ve never been wrapped up in someone else so much that I shared stuff with them and it kind of scares me?”, Carmilla said weakly, directly meeting the other girl’s gaze for the first time, “And I know, I have to change that, because you deserve the world, you deserve someone, who you can trust and who doesn’t blow up on you like that. I wanna try. I really do.”  
  
“That’s probably the sweetest thing I’ve heard so far.”, the blonde smiled at Carmilla’s honesty.  
  
“I really meant it. I do really like you and I do care about you so much and what I said in the attic- I didn’t mean it… I am an asshole sometimes, but it wasn’t you- you are the only really good thing in my life.”  
  
  
“Come to the New Year’s party with me.”, Laura interjected in a whisper.  
  
It was enough. Even though Carmilla had been a monumental _bad person_ , she couldn’t be mad at her after her apology or whatever that was.  
  
(Probably her declaration of love.)

  
“What?”  
  
“Come to Kirsch’s party with me… Spend New Year’s with me, Carm.”  
  
“But your friends are all gonna be there…”  
  
“You are my- Well, _you and I are a thing_ and you are my friend in first line too, so you should come with me.”  
  
“I don’t know…”, the brunette said weakly, well aware of Laura’s almost slip-up.  
  
“I want you to be there.”, Laura was throwing her the puppy-dog look.  
  
“Does that mean, you forgive me for… What I said and stuff?”  
  
“And stuff? You really gotta work on your apologies… And yes, I do. For this time. From now on I won’t take your shit. When you feel like drowning, I am here for you, I can be your anchor…”, Laura frowned, “Well okay no, in this analogy it doesn’t go so well with the drowning thing, but you know what I mean right?”  
  
Carmilla gave her a weak smile, but it reached her eyes, because how on earth did she deserve to be treated like that after being _Ms. Monumental Bitch_? Laura was someone she didn’t want to give up anymore. She had to ask her something important, she had to be sure. Soon. She would ask her soon.  
  
“I’ll go to that stupid party with you.”, the dark haired girl finally relented and Laura took it. She nodded slightly.  
  
  
“Get ready then. You’re driving right?”  
  
“Always.”  
  
Laura hummed, “I’ve never really seen you drink… That’s why you’re always the designated driver, right?”  
  
The other girl smirked, “A clever Creampuff, but yeah… I-”, she furrowed her brows, “I never want to be like him. So, I don’t really do the whole alcohol thing…”  
  
It was something. A little start. Laura reached forwards and hugged her stepsister. She opened up a bit. She was trying, so the blonde was cutting her some slacks.  


 

***

  
  
“So what’s up with you and Morticia over there?”, Danny asked her best friend, who came up to the bar to get herself and Carmilla something to drink.  
  
“We are kind of good. We worked it out, sorta. I just didn’t want to fight anymore.”  
  
“Yeah? You do seem better.”  
  
“It’s because I am.”, Laura turned around, so that both her and the redhead were looking in the brunette’s direction, “She’s great.”  
  
“That’s great. I’m happy for you then, Hollis.”  
  
  
  
Laura handed a red plastic cup to Carmilla, who eyed it a little suspiciously, so the blonde cleared it up, “It’s just orange juice… The same thing I am having, because I wanna be supportive of you.”  
  
“You can drink and get wasted, cutie.”  
  
“Well just for today, I’m not gonna break the law. Plus, I kinda wanna be totally sober, when we celebrate into the new year.”, Carmilla nodded and took a sip of her juice.  
  
“So what were you and Xena talking about over there?”, the dark haired girl asked the other, when they were fairly alone in a secluded corner, she leaned in to whisper, “You were a little obvious with that grin, Creampuff… The beanstalk could get suspicious.”  
  
“I… Kinda already told Danny about us… And I am really sorry that I did, I know, I should have asked you first, but-”  
  
“No!”, Carmilla was smiling, “That’s… It’s good to know that you did tell someone… How did she react?”  
  
“Well surprisingly well… She said, she’s happy, if I am… And there were only five comments about you being my stepsister… So...”, she chuckled and Carmilla joined in.  
  
  
  
  
  
“So, Carmilla?”, Natalie looked at the girl apprehensively.  
  
Carmilla frowned, “Yeah?”  
  
“You and Laura have become quite the friends, hmn?”  
  
“Uh… Yeah?”  
  
“Oh come on, Nat, don’t be such an asshole.”, SJ chirped, “She’s just making sure that you are playing your big sister cards right and all.”, the girl explained.  
  
“You guys do know that Laura’s the older one of us, right?”  
  
“Really?”, the girls were clearly wasted and Carmilla didn’t know, if that was good for her or not.  
  
“Well, I’m just gonna…”, she excused herself from her girl- _Laura’s_ friends and made her way to a bathroom that she found locked.  
  
  
“Go awayyyy!”  
  
Carmilla tried again, “Open up… I have to use the bathroom.”  
  
She heard some shuffling on the other side and someone, who blew her nose.  
  
“I said-”, it was Danny standing all tall and tear-stained in front of her, “It’s _you_ … Great…”  
  
“What the hell?”, Carmilla looked over her shoulder and let herself in, closing the door behind her, “Why the fuck are you crying?”  
  
Danny glared at her, sitting on the edge of the bathtub, “It’s none of your fucking business.”  
  
“I have to pee.”  
  
“Be my guest.”, the redhead motioned towards the toilet.  
  
Carmilla rolled her eyes, but she didn’t care, “If you really wanna watch me.”  
  
  
  
When the dark haired girl was busy washing her hands, she looked at the crouched figure in the mirror. It was Laura’s best friend for god’s sake and even though she didn’t like the redhead that much, she felt bad for her.  
  
“Did you need some advils or water or something?”, the brunette said, while opening the cabinet and trying to find the pain meds.  
  
“I’m not drunk, you dumbass.”  
  
Carmilla turned around, raising her eyebrows, “I was just trying to help… If you aren’t a _drunken, messy crier_ , then what’s the matter?”  
  
Danny just met her eyes and looked at her in a _‘really?’_ -kind of way. The dark haired girl had an idea.  
  
  
  
  
“Seriously Carm, where are you taking me?”, the blonde asked, as she was dragged away from her friends by her stepsister.  
  
“The bathroom.”  
  
Laura blushed a little and she hoped no one would see them together, because yes, yes she totally wanted to make out in a bathroom and- Carmilla yanked the door open and ushered her in.  
  
“This is kinda hot.”, the blonde remarked and the other girl frowned.  
  
“Laura-”, said Hollis girl shushed her with a finger on her lips.  
  
“Don’t talk. I really like your ideas.”, the blonde said in a husky voice and wanted to lean in.  
  
  
“Ugh, you two are so fucking gross!”, Danny’s voice rang and Laura jumped away with wide eyes.  
  
“What- Uh- Danny. **Hey!** ”, her red as tomato face was met by an amused Carmilla, who smirked.  
  
“Seriously? You brought _your girlfriend_ now?”, the redhead asked the brunette.  
  
“Well, you wouldn’t talk to me, so I figured you’d want to talk about whatever it is with your bestie, so…”  
  
Carmilla’s heart had picked up speed, when Danny had called Laura her girlfriend and she was awaiting for the blonde to correct her, but she never did. Laura only looked at her in a way Carmilla understood, and she excused herself from the situation.  
  
  
  
  
“What is wrong?”, Laura asked Danny.  
  
“Kirsch… He…”, she was sobbing, and the blonde rushed towards her, to embrace her in a hug.  
  
“Oh my god, what did he do? I’m gonna kick his punk-ass!”  
  
Danny chuckled, although tears and snot were dripping down her face, “He didn’t- I did. I broke up with him.”  
  
Laura’s eyes went wide, “What?”  
  
“I don’t know what came over me, but he was all _‘dude-bro’ey_ and kind of a douche bag and Will and him were drinking obnoxious amounts of beer and I was worried that they both would pass out somewhere or something and it’s New Year’s and we are at his house and I thought we’d you know spend time together after the party or something and he was all ‘you are at this party woman’ and that he is spending his time with his girlfriend anyway, because I am here and ugh- I just- I snapped, because obviously he doesn’t care for me or spending time with me and-”  
  
“Oh Dan…”, Laura’s grip on her friend got tighter, “He loves you though, you know that right? And he cares so much.”  
  
“Yeah, yeah…”, she wiped her face with her sleeve, looking at her wristwatch, “It’s half an hour to midnight… You would wanna be with your flame now, Laura.”  
  
“Are you sure? Because… Bros before Hoes or Sisters before Misters or something…”  
  
“Yeah well she fits into both of the things. Sister and a- Not a mister.”  
  
Laura rolled her eyes, “I hope you didn’t call Carmilla a hoe right now.”  
  
“No… She really is alright, Laura.”, Danny offered a smile, “I think, I am gonna try find Kirsch and talk to him or something.”  
  
“For what it’s worth… I haven’t seen him in the last couple of hours… I think he is hiding in his room or something… So… You are apparently very important to him, hmn?”  
  
“We’ll see about that…”  
  
  
  
  
Laura let her gaze wander through the room and smiled, when she found the girl that she was looking for, she immediately made her way to her.  
  
“Hey.”  
  
Carmilla looked around the room and seemed to ponder on the fact that everyone could see their interaction, so Laura just gestured her to follow her. This party was so full of weird twists. They made it outside with their jackets resting on their forearms.  
  
“Creampuff, did you want to leave a New Year’s party before midnight?”, Carmilla asked, as she slid into her jacket.  
  
“Maybe…”, Laura waited for her stepsister to unlock her car, which she did.  
  
  
  
After both were safe from the snow storm that was blowing outside, the blonde fixated her gaze on the other girl. Carmilla was giving her a small smile.  
  
“So is anyone hiding in your car now too, or can I kiss you here?”  
  
The dark haired girl quirked her eyebrow, “No one’s here.”, she chuckled, “Aren’t we a little forward?”  
  
“Carm, you were ignoring me most of the last week… And I missed you…”  
  
The brunette’s expression softened immediately, “Me too… And I only didn’t try to kiss you, because I kind of thought that I didn’t deserve it… I was such a monumental asshole to you and…”  
  
“Carm!”, Laura rolled her eyes impatiently and leaned over the middle console of the car, “Kissing now, talking later. Please?”  
  
  
  
  
Carmilla checked her clock in the car. Now was the perfect opportunity. They had mere minutes until midnight.  
  
  
“Can I ask you something?”  
  
“Sure.”, Laura encouraged the other girl with a squeeze of the hand she was holding. It was weird. It was New Year’s and she was in a car. Much odder was the fact that she wanted to be nowhere else in the world than in that goddamn freaking car.  
  
“Are we together?”  
  
The blonde hadn’t anticipated this to be the question, but she frowned, “Of course we are.”  
  
“No, Laura, I mean...”, she licked over her lips, “Am I your girlfriend?”  
  
“Yeah, you are.”, Laura said, as if it was the most normal thing in the world. Inwardly she found it absolutely endearing that Carmilla had asked her that. She had been struggling with defining them too, but she found that that’s what they were. And it came naturally. Sometimes things are easy, if you only ask.  
  
“Really? So... We are together?”  
  
Laura grinned, “Yes, we are together.”  
  
  
“This is gonna be the best year of my life.”, Carmilla beamed. The fireworks outside went off and painted reds, greens and other colors on their skin.  
  
“Happy New Year, Carm.”, Laura whispered, before she leaned over to kiss her girlfriend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote a little one-shot series in the beginning of the year (when I wasn't that much into writing human Carm)...  
> And I kind of did spend my free time editing that here and there and I posted it: [Collision](http://archiveofourown.org/works/7192214/chapters/16322738)  
> Basically I am planning on doing a little series out of it with different bits.
> 
> However it won't be ever as big as my last fic and or this one, I think.
> 
> So if you wanted to check that out. Just saying.
> 
> #shamelessselfplugofmemuhaha


	20. Obstacles

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “It’s not your fault that no one knows.”

“So… How were your holidays?”, LaF asked their friend, who was retrieving her notebook from her locker.  
  
“Mattie paid us a surprise visit and well it was kind of cool celebrating with the whole family. How were yours?”  
  
“Yeah?”, the redhead followed their friend to their next class, “Well you know my family… I did get to celebrate Chanukkah with Perry’s family though. It was nice.”  
  
“Great. How about you and Curly Sue? What’s going on there? Is my ship sailing yet?”  
  
“No, there is no sailing. We are currently halting at a port.”  
  
Carmilla furrowed her brows, “Whatever that means.”  
  
“What about _your_ lady love?”  
  
“What about her?”, the brunette checked, if anyone was listening, when they got into their Science classroom and sat down.  
  
“Are you guys like together for real or still pining over each other and making out on various occasions?”  
  
Carmilla shrugged her shoulders, “Wouldn’t you like to know?”  
  
“Come on, tell me! I told you about Perr’ too.”  
  
“You guys have nicknames for each other already? You are so married.”  
  
“Yeah sure. You’re one to talk, **Carm**.”  
  
For that they earned a glare from Carmilla.  
  


 

***

  
  
“So is Xena alright?”, the dark haired girl wanted to know during lunch with Laura. (They were still being looked at weirdly at times, but most people had accepted the fact that they were friends now and occasionally sat together - _intrigue_.)  
  
Laura looked at the other girl, a little surprised by her concern, “Uh, yeah. Kirsch and her are taking some time off I guess, but they’ll get together eventually or… Not. Sometimes it just doesn’t work out. They have been together for so long, I guess it’s good for them to be their own people for once. I mean, we’re only teenagers, they’ve known each other since they are little.”  
  
“It’s kind of gross, but yeah, you’re right.”, the brunette nodded in agreement and suddenly they were joined by some random girl.  
  
  
“Carmilla!”, the unknown girl (unknown to Laura in this case) placed a kiss on her cheek. Carmilla immediately wiped that spot and leaned away, maintaining a distance.  
  
“Betty.”  
  
“We haven’t seen each other in a while now.”  
  
“Well yeah, I can imagine that you are busy, being in senior year and all and preparing to go to medschool or something?”  
  
“That doesn’t mean that I don’t miss spending a fun time with you.”, just now the tall blonde noticed the other girl looking at her in disapproval, “Who’s that?”  
  
“Laura Hollis. The president of the school committee? You don’t know her?”, Carmilla mocked and threw a wink in her stepsister’s way, “She’s my- uh step-friend, _just friend_.”  
  
“I never really paid attention to the ones in the grades below me, but yeah thanks for making our school a better place or something.”, Betty halfheartedly said to the blonde, who was sitting across from her.  
  
“Well whatever it is you came here for, I gotta decline.”, the brunette finally declared and that caught both of the girls’ attention.  
  
“Oh really? You wanna tell me that you don’t wanna do some extra curricular activities after school?”, her voice dropped some octaves lower. (Laura’s dislike for Betty couldn’t grow any bigger.)  
  
“No. I don’t have any interest in whatever you mean by that. And uhh… I- Gotta go now!”, Carmilla scrambled up and left the two blondes back, causing Laura to follow her.  
  
  
  
“Carm, wait!”, the blonde caught up with her girlfriend and motioned her to follow her into an empty classroom.  
  
“I’m sorry for that, I-”, Carmilla immediately began apologizing, but the other girl shook her head.  
  
“No, you don’t need to. It’s not your fault that no one knows.”, Laura placed her hands on the brunette’s waist.  
  
The dark haired girl nodded to herself, “True… But I still don’t want you to think that I encourage people or something, because you- well, you said that we’re kind of together now and I believe in being faithful and all, just so you know.”  
  
Of course she believed in that. Who the hell would betray someone like Laura Hollis?  
The girl that she has wanted for like an eternity. She would rather cut off her head than deny that fact.  
  
“You’re cute, when you try to imitate me.”, the blonde chuckled and leaned up to lock lips with the girl, but she was interrupted by Carmilla leaning away.  
  
“What do you mean? Imitate you?”  
  
“You are literally doing that now. Rambling, when you should kiss me instead.”, she captured Carmilla’s lips for a short amount of time, before that ( ~~annoying~~ ) girl was leaning away again and interrupting.  
  
“Laura…”, she chuckled, when the blonde kissed her again, “We’re at school and I don’t think you wanna get caught.”  
  
Laura rolled her eyes, “So after school then?”  
  
Carmilla bit her lip and nodded, a smirk forming on her lips, “For some _extracurricular activities_.”  
  
For that she got smacked on the arm.  


 

***

  
  
Usually her days were getting better. Now with the winter slowly coming to an end and all, the days getting longer again. Having a hot girlfriend. Everything was perfect, except for the fact that no one was allowed to know about the hot girlfriend. No one was allowed to learn of the fact that Laura Hollis was into her _stepsister_. That term solely made her cringe.  
  
And then the other thing with her father. Greg was more and more away from the family. The days he had off for Christmas were gone too quickly and Laura’s parent was swallowed by his work. Not that she would tell him about Carmilla, but she found that if he were around more often, she probably would have been more comfortable with telling him about her preference for girls in the first place.  
  
Everything sucked.  
  
  
“What’s going on nerd? You look so down.”, Will was leaning on her door frame and she quickly sat up on her bed.  
  
“What are _you_ doing here?”  
  
“I just wanted to know, if you wanted to watch a game with me again.”, he raised his hands, “Don’t worry, it’s not one of my advances. Kirsch is just being a big baby about his break up with the amazon and now I am left to stay at home instead of going to his place.”  
  
Laura frowned, “You do know that Danny is my best friend, right?”  
  
“You don’t seem to mind, when my sister calls her nicknames. Why does _she_ get special treatment?”  
  
The blonde rolled her eyes, “Ugh, did you want to watch the game or not?”  
  
  
  
“So tell me, why I always walk in on you guys watching people hurting themselves or making questionable noises?”, Carmilla walked into the living room and seated herself next to her brother. (Not failing to make disgusted faces- because, duh! Who did watch that stuff voluntarily? Her girlfriend! Apparently!)  
  
“If you can’t be quiet, go away.”, Will mumbled, hooked to the TV screen.  
  
Carmilla let her gaze wander to the girl beside her, sitting on the armchair that wasn’t far away at all. She snapped her fingers in front of Laura’s face and she shifted her attention to her (finally). Laura smiled sheepishly, stealing glances to the screen, but still trying to appease Carmilla, who just rolled her eyes after the fifth time she caught the other girl doing that and left them alone. Will hadn’t even caught onto their little staring challenge.  
  
“I’ll be doing real enjoyable things upstairs, you freaks.”, she called in their direction, never bothering to look back.  
  
  
  
“So everything between you two is good again?”, Will asked his stepsister, eyeing her from the corner of his eyes.  
  
She let her gaze fall to her hands in front of her for a second, before answering him, “Did we uh- ever fight?”  
  
“You gotta be kidding me right? Carmilla slept on the freaking couch for 2 days, when she could have been sleeping in your bed. I mean… There was something huge going on, wasn’t it? What did she do?”  
  
Laura scoffed, “Nothing. Not everything revolves around fighting. Carm just wanted me to have some privacy after one week of bed-sharing.”  
  
Will furrowed his brows, “You do know how that sounded like, don’t you?”  
  
“Wha-”, she glared at him, “Oh my god, **ew**!!!”, Laura stood up from her position on the armchair and was about to go upstairs, “You are such an ass! Watch your game alone!”  
  
Will just looked at her, all pleased with himself, and she made her way upstairs.  
  
Instead of getting into her own, she did straight up walk into Carmilla’s room.  
  
  
“Ugh, your brother is so fucking gross!”, she yelled. The brunette was lying on her bed, listening to music, looking through her phone, before Laura decided to barge in.  
  
“When did people give up on knocking? I could be naked in here you know?”  
  
“Well you still owe me for the shower incident anyway.”, the blonde let out cheekily, locking the door behind her.  
  
Carmilla turned a little red. Oh yes that shower incident. She had those pictures tucked away to a particular place in her brain.  
  
  
“Mind, if I hang out here a bit?”  
  
“No, by all means do, but weren’t you all wrapped up in a bonding session with the asshat?”, the dark haired girl said, while Laura straddled her (much to her surprise) on her bed and leaned down.  
  
“Oh come on.”, she whispered, “Don’t be jealous.”  
  
Carmilla scoffed, “I am not jealous.”  
  
“Because you don’t have reason to be.”, Laura dipped down to meet Carmilla’s clavicle with her lips, to paint out the curve of her neck with her tongue, biting down on a particular spot.  
  
“You- I- I know.”, nonsensical mumbles were something that the blonde hadn’t experienced that often from the other girl. It made the game she was playing so much more interesting.  
  
Laura had this smug smile on her -something that didn’t fit to her and something that Carmilla wanted to wipe off. In a moment of inattentiveness, she flipped their positions and was the one to lower herself onto the other girl’s body. She did that so gracefully, her movements were so fluid and her eyes held in a sort of adoration she hadn’t felt for anyone else on earth.  
  
Of course it was something unsaid, something kept in secret, because it was still her discovery that she had made just a few days ago.  
  
Carmilla kissed Laura, so tenderly and so soft that it seemed like she was afraid that she might break the other girl, if she were too rough. And she didn’t want to break something that made her feel this good.  
  
As the kissing and ragged breaths and gasps and panting progressed, hands moved across hot, soft skin, both knew, where this could be headed. There was a pause in those movements, when Carmilla leaned her weight onto the arms braced next to Laura’s head, simultaneously breaking their lip-lock.

  
“Laura… We have to stop, or otherwise-”  
  
“Our parents won’t be home for the next few hours…”, Laura let out rather breathlessly, her hand that had been already on a mission under the brunette’s shirt, were now tugging on her collar.  
  
“But Will’s downstairs…”, Carmilla. Always so reasonable.  
  
Laura cupped her cheek and brought her down for another set of kisses, before relenting, “I know…”, she groaned, “We will never, ever be alone for this…”  
  
The dark haired girl leaned away again, to be able to look into Laura’s honey-colored eyes, “Do we… Uh, talk about _this_?”  
  
“Ugh about what exactly?”  
  
“About the things we’re not supposed to do.”  
  
Laura raised an eyebrow at her and Carmilla finally settled back into her bed, facing the other girl.  
  
“I don’t wanna talk!”, the blonde lay there, with her gaze fixated on the ceiling, breathing out, “I just wanna be able to-”, she caught the dark pupils that were boring into her soul, when turning her head.  
  
Laura felt like doing particular things, because if Carmilla was hers on a physical level, she could block out the blondes and redheads and whatnots out of her memory. It really sucked that no one knew about her and Carmilla.  
  
  
“What?”, the brunette clearly understood that this was something else now.  
  
“I really hate that people still hit on you. I know, I told you, I didn’t mind. But I do, and it’s really dumb and immature and you’re like the last person that is responsible for that, but I can’t help it. I am irrational and weird and jealous. Oh my god, _I’m so jealous_. This is like the worst thing ever! Who does that?”  
  
Carmilla let out a soft chuckle, barely audible and nudged Laura, with her head meeting the blonde’s shoulder, “Relax, it’s normal and it’s kind of cute.”  
  
“It’s frustrating, because I’d like to kiss you in front of them and wipe those looks off their faces. I wanna tell everyone that you’re mine.”  
  
“Me too, but we can’t…”, Carmilla closed her eyes, a sliver of a smile waiting on her lips. That’s how contentment looked like and Laura didn’t understand why.  
  
“How can you be so calm about this?”, the sheets rustled and Carmilla opened an eye to find Laura hovering half over her with a questioning glare.  
  
“Because I don’t need anyone to know. I’m okay with it being you and me.” _As long as I’m allowed to love you in my little bubble._  
  
And there she had it. Herself accepting it, embracing it. Oh yes, what a delight.  
  
“It’s so annoying that you’re the more grown-up one in this relationship.”  
  
“Well age doesn’t determine anything, cutie.”  
  
  
Laura was on her back again, both staring off in the same direction.  
  
  
“Wait… But about the other thing... Did you want to?”  
  
Carmilla huffed out a breath and rolled onto her side again, “Did I want to _what_?”  
  
“Do you- Are you- Do you want to sleep with me?”  
  
Okay this was a question the dark haired girl hadn’t anticipated, “Uhm-”, Carmilla felt a weird knot form in her stomach, doing it was totally okay, but talking about it… “Of course I do… I mean, look at you!”  
  
A giggle escaped Laura’s lips and that was a good sign. She did say the right thing. Well sort of. Less objectifying would have been great, but hey, she was telling the truth.  
  
“And are we like… Are we there yet? Or like is there some rule in a relationship with a girl that I have to follow?”  
  
“No, well, I am ready, if you are?”  
  
“Okay.”, the blonde nodded to herself, “I am too.”  
  
Carmilla thought about her next words carefully, “Have you… Have you done that before? Well, with a girl I mean.”  
  
Laura rolled her eyes, thinking _more often than you have probably_ , “Well yes I have, I already told you Carm.”  
  
The brunette thought about their talk a few months back, “You were being pretty vague about that and to be honest, I didn’t want to think about _that_.”  
  
“Right…”  
  
Carmilla bit her lip, “Well, now we just wait for the right moment, I guess.”  
  
“You mean like never?”, Laura offered a smile with that sentence.  
  
“Oh common… We will get the opportunity. It’s just a little hard with our parents lurking around all the time.”  
  
“Or Will.”  
  
“Or Will.”, Carmilla agreed.  
  
“You would think it is easier with our living arrangements and all... Ohmigod, we will _never_ have sex. This is our fate. We might as well get accustomed to it.”, Laura spoke rather dramatically.  
  
She only got Carmilla’s loud laugh in response to that.  
  


 

***

  
  
“Are you sure you wanna do this, Hollis?”, Danny asked her best friend, who was losing her nerves.  
  
“Yeah I talked to Carm, and she said I can tell whoever I want so… Yeah I wanna do this. Where is Carm by the way?”  
  
“Okay, calm down there.”, the redhead grabbed her by the shoulders and squeezed them, as a sign of _‘you got this’_.  
  
Just as if on cue, SJ and Natalie walked over to their designated lunch table and stared at the blonde for a while, because she had a wide grin (that looked a little fake) plastered to her face.  
  
  
“Is she having a stroke?”, is what Sarah Jane asked Danny, while smacking on her gum.  
  
The tallest member of the group just then nudged Laura with her elbow and she seemed to move again.  
  
“Oh yeah... Hey guys…”  
  
Natalie was eyeing them both suspiciously, “What’s up?”  
  
“Wait- We…” _Have to wait for my super hot girlfriend that promised me moral support and cookies._  
  
And the moral support did arrive, even with those cookies. Yes, I do like Carmilla very much, she thought.  
  
“Hey, sorry. I got held up by Mr. Richter.”, Carmilla sat down beside her stepsister, who touched her hand for some seconds under the table. The brunette gave her a look of assurance.  
  
She had told Laura, she would be there, when she decided to tell her friends. It had been a week and a half since their talk in Carmilla’s bedroom and the blonde had decided all by herself that she at least wanted her closest friends to know.

  
“Hey Carmilla!”, Natalie greeted the dark haired girl that kind of got accepted by Laura’s group of friends gradually.  
  
“Okay so- SJ, Nat… I have to tell you guys something… And it’s like _super personal_ … And you guys are my closest friends and uhm, it affects my love life. And I know, how you always talk about me being alone and bitter and stuff...”, she shared a look with Danny, who urged her to continue with a nod, but she was interjected anyway.  
  
  
“Oh please don’t tell us that you two are dating.”  
  
Carmilla and Laura shared a concerned look.  
  
  
_Crap._


	21. I'm So, So Into You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I just can’t believe I get to have you, y’know?”

“Oh please don’t tell us that you two are dating.”, SJ said apprehensively, Carmilla and Laura immediately shared a look of concern.  
  
  
“Excuse me?”, Carmilla was more than surprised. She didn’t think that she made such a bad impression at the New Year’s party.  
  
“Hey you guys, Laura is trying to tell you something. Please don’t interrupt? Even if you aren’t fully on board with this.”, Danny tried to help.  
  
“Not on board? We are totally forbidding this.”, Natalie chimed in now.  
  
“Nat’s right. It was gross enough that we had to witness you two kissing once.”  
  
“You saw us kissing?!!!”, Laura’s eyes went wide.  
  
“Well duh, yeah. Everyone knows about that guys.”, SJ responded and Carmilla and Laura looked at each other, both slightly panicking.  
  
“Your height difference isn’t the only weird think about you two.”  
  
“Wait, what? The Creampuff here is short, but she’s not _that_ short.”, Carmilla finally spoke again and this time SJ and Natalie both fixated her with their eyes.  
  
  
“You were talking about Carmilla this whole time?”, Natalie finally realized it.  
  
“Shhh, yeah… Well what did you-”, Laura looked to her right, where Danny was looking at their friends with wide eyes.  
  
“Oh my god, you guys totally thought _Laura and I_ …?”, the redhead frowned (Carmilla scowled).  
  
“Well sorry, we were a little confused for a second there.”, SJ admitted, but then she threw in a genuine smile, “But in this case, we’re happy for you Laura.”  
  
“Yeah, totally. You two make a…”, Natalie leaned forwards, whispering, “ _Great couple_.”  
  
“Hey! This was totally offensive for me!”, Danny finally realized.  
  
“Nope. We just think that you and Kirsch should work it out.”, SJ explained, “Anyway, but _you_ guys do look cute together.”  
  
“And you two don’t find it weird?”, Laura asked.  
  
“Why would we?”, Sarah Jane wanted to know, “We knew that you liked girls, remember last year?”  
  
Laura didn’t want to talk about **that** in front of Carmilla, “No, not because of _that_. The whole sister thing? Well not _sisters_ sisters, but you know…”  
  
“Oh yeah, we will make incest jokes, but other than that it’s cool!”, Natalie said casually.  
  
  
Carmilla felt like three tons were lifted off her shoulders. She had anticipated it to go fairly well, but with the scare of the last 5 minutes, she just was happy that they didn’t mean her and Laura- Which made her think though…  
  
  
  
“Sweetheart?”, the brunette drawled, while Laura was shoving her books into her locker.

The blonde paused, looking around and then in a low voice answered, “Carm, you can’t do that.”  
  
“What?”  
  
“Sweetheart-ing and stuff. We’re at school.”  
  
“I also did call you that before we started dating.”  
  
Laura found that it was true, but tugged Carmilla away and out onto the parking lot of the school anyway. They did take one car to ride to school again. It was Carmilla’s big, spacey one.  
  
  
“So what did you want to say before?”, Laura asked, once secured behind a seat belt.  
  
The dark haired girl seemed to just remember again, “Oh right… I was wondering… Why you never told me that you made out with the ginger giant.”  
  
Laura had this adorable, embarrassed look on her that Carmilla caught onto, she glanced over, while driving out of the parking lot.  
  
“We didn’t really _make out_. I just kinda kissed Danny on a party a few years back. It was a dare. I was like fourteen or something, so it was totally the best friends trying it out and stuff.”  
  
“Yuck! That means, every time I kiss you, I’m also kissing her??”  
  
Laura rolled her eyes, “Oh, get over yourself, Carm. That was like a million years ago.”  
  
“Still. I don’t like thinking about my girlfriend and the beanstalk.”  
  
The blonde’s head snapped towards the driver’s seat, “Girlfriend, huh?”  
  
“Well that’s what you said, isn’t it?”, Laura gave her a satisfied grin and hummed in approvement.  
  
  
  
“Do you know, if your mother’s working late today?”  
  
“Today is some weird board meeting or something, so at least until 6, why?”  
  
“Because my dad’s not home either… And Will…”  
  
“Is still at school, because of practice.”, Carmilla finished off the sentence.  
  
“That leaves us alone in a house… With absolutely _no one_ there to disturb us…”  
  
Carmilla’s hands grew sweaty just thinking about what Laura had implied with that sentence.  
  
  
  
  
There was kissing. A lot of it. Kissing against the front door (locked behind them, of course). Kissing on the couch for about half an eternity, until both found that upstairs -a bed- would be a better option.  
  
They decided that they could get their backpacks later on. There were more pressing matters. Like for instance _the lack of Carmilla’s hands on her skin_ , Laura thought. And she acted on those thoughts, when she took the brunette’s hands and placed them under her shirt. Both girls were stumbling up the stairs, busy deciding, which room to take.  
  
“Mine.”, the blonde mumbled, “My bed is bigger.” _And you haven’t fucked in there with other girls._  
  
As they entered the room, door still ajar -because obviously, no one was at home-, everything slowed down. They stared into each other’s eyes for some seconds, giving their lungs a break.  
  
  
“Hey…”, Carmilla wanted undivided attention from the other girl, whose hands were tangled in dark curls, all ready to pull the girl of her dreams in for another kiss.  
  
“What?”  
  
“You’re beautiful.”  
  
“Yeah?”, Laura captured Carmilla’s lips in a slow, tantalizing kiss, “And **you** are _amazing_.”  
  
They moved towards the bed, the blonde being pushed into a sitting position with Carmilla standing, looking down at her, biting her lip. That was it. What she wanted for so long. They were alone and finally…  
  
Laura reached out her hand and the dark haired girl took it. The blonde noticed the other girl’s shuddering breath and her heaving chest.  
  
  
“Are you okay?”  
  
“Yeah- I-”, Carmilla licked her lips, “I just can’t believe I get to have you, y’know?”  
  
Laura’s face broke into a beautiful smile, shining like the sun. Well, she was. And Carmilla could only absorb the light. This was a whole new terrain for her.  
  
_So, so pretty._ Her only thought.  
  
Carmilla finally leaned down, cradling Laura’s face, placing a gentle kiss on her mouth, intending to do that to every little shred of skin on her body.  
  
It began with slow -even hesitant touches on the brunette’s part. Starting with getting rid of Laura’s grey cardigan and then running her hand over the shorter girl’s spine over her tank-top, feeling every vertebra under her fingertips. This gesture made Laura shiver and she moved to the center of her bed, reaching out to grab Carmilla by her neck and get her into bed with her.  
  
Which backfired a little, causing the brunette to fall into bed, instead of graciously getting in, but whatever, Laura had her, where she wanted. The little impatient thing she was, she quickly found the hem of Carmilla’s top and pulled on it, towards herself, while the brunette braced herself on her forearms, with an amused expression on her face.  
  
When the dark haired girl finally relented and sat up, getting rid of that piece of clothing herself, she saw, how Laura’s eyes scanned her body. Carmilla grew a little self-conscious, so she leaned forwards and tangled her hands in loose, blonde curls, pulling the other girl in for more kisses.  
  
There was no doubt that Laura liked Carmilla physically, and on several occasions she had seen her stepsister (this fact she blocked out of her memory completely) in various stages of undress.  
  
However this whole thing was a little different. For instance the sound Carmilla made, when Laura kissed along her torso, or the moan that could be perceived, when the blonde dragged her teeth over the other girl’s ribcage, leaving reddish spots here and there.  
  
This form of intimacy was hers. _Theirs_. To share with each other. Only they would know about this and for the first time it was an exhilarating thought.  
  
Carmilla yanked Laura up by the strap of her tank-top, to entrap her in yet another bruising kiss. Her hands moved under the thin cotton fabric and inched it higher, until Laura finally leaned away enough for her to take off the piece of garment.  
  
They immediately kissed again, this time skin meeting skin. Laura couldn’t wait, she just needed to touch everywhere, feel everywhere. Her hands tremulously found the belt buckle on the other girl’s pants, and began undoing that thing, all the while kissing along hot skin.  
  
Laura’s room suddenly had like a thousand degrees -despite it being winter. Carmilla kind of had that effect on her.  
  
Carmilla gulped, when the other girl helped her out of her pants, but she was on top of that game too, when she flipped them over and helped Laura out of her jeans. Carmilla was a little more patient with removing the piece of clothing. One by one. Dragging her fingers over the now very sensitive spots.  
  
To be honest, Laura was recipient for any touch, anywhere in that moment.  
  
The dark haired girl paused, looking down at the other girl, legs spread -although still covered by her underwear- she was a sight. Laura’s ribcage moved in a steady rhythm, too quickly, as Carmilla found, because she wanted it slow. She needed it to slow down, because she still had to wrap her head around it.  
  
“I’m so, so into you.”, the brunette whispered, while lowering herself on the other girl. They kissed again, this time Laura being somewhat patient and slow, understanding. Her hands, cold and a little sweaty, dragged over Carmilla’s ribs, her stomach, halting on her hipbones and pulling her closer. This little action made them both gasp.  
  
  
  
“Carm?”, the blonde panted.  
  
The dark haired girl was busy sucking a mark onto her stomach (being a spot not everyone would be able to see), “Yeah?”  
  
“Take off your bra.”, while she said that, she tugged the straps down, not being able to remove it fully, because Carmilla was all the way down there, busy with kissing along her navel.

  
The girl complied of course, and she topped it, with also taking off her panties.  
  
Oh yes, it was a glorious view. _Carmilla Karnstein, stripped._  
  
Laura was very aware of her own expression.  
  
But she kind of didn’t care at all.

  
Just now she finally saw Carmilla’s full tattoo on her left hipbone.  
It was a tree of some sort, loosing its leaves. Laura decided to ask her for the meaning later on.  
  
  
“Up.”, Carmilla commanded and the blonde did, as she was told. She sat up. The brunette reached around her and undid the clasp of her bra, causing it to snap open. Laura took the opportunity to kiss along the other girl’s neck, and along her collarbone, her tongue leaving hot trails. She even brought her hands up to cup the brunette’s breasts gingerly, then moving them to grab her neck and putting in more force into the kiss. Carmilla let her, before nudging her gently, until she lay flat on the mattress again.  
  
The dark haired girl swallowed down every ounce of nervousness, when taking off that bra fully, giving her a full view of Laura’s almost naked body. She had seen this, but back then it hadn’t been hers to look at. It hadn’t been hers to touch. It hadn’t been hers to know.  
  
She wanted to know every part of this body in front of her.  
  
  
They both shared a look, before Carmilla captured Laura in the gentlest of kisses for her to ever receive. Simultaneously her right hand moved along the blonde’s flushed body, until it met cotton. Her left hand was busy with cupping Laura’s breast, squeezing gently, eliciting all the moans.  
  
Carmilla opened her eyes in time to see Laura biting down on her own bottom lip. The dark haired girl was staring into her girlfriend’s dilated pupils, catching her fanned out hair around her face with her eyes, noticing her red cheeks and the general anticipation in her face, body, _everywhere_.  
  
Laura felt a finger stroking her in a too light touch, where she needed it rough and with velocity. Carmilla was being too slow, but it was to rile her up. _So Carmilla was that kind of girl in bed_ , the blonde thought. Laura’s unfocused eyes, her shallow breathing and her soft moans were the only things the dark haired girl valued in that moment.  
  
“Ffff-”, Laura didn’t come any further with what probably was going to end up as a profanity, when Carmilla entered her. It was a particular spot, as her panties did obstruct the brunette in her doings.  
  
“Take those off.”, Laura demanded and her eyes were wide and her expression a little more impatient again. However the brunette did, as she was told.  
  
Laura had been the object of her want for so long. Tucked away in a safe, dark place in the back corner of her mind. Just a silly fantasy of hers. Not that Carmilla had always only thought about sleeping with her- no, she was so much more than that.  
  
However, she still had dreamt, imagined, fantasized.  
  
And the real thing was so much better than her brain could have managed to envision.  
  
  
Carmilla stopped with her ministrations for a whole minute to match Laura’s gaze. To see her. To take all of her in. This was happening.  
  
  
Carmilla’s fingers found the wetness between Laura’s legs again, stroking her.  
  
“Carm…”, her voice sounded very much like someone pleading. _Begging_ even.  
  
The brunette didn’t give her an answer though, she just placed her mouth on the one that was beneath her and began kissing the blonde feverishly. Laura’s gasp was swallowed by their lip-lock, when Carmilla finally picked up a little speed and did enter her for the second time. Only this time she did do it with much more purpose: fucking that brain out of Laura’s skull.  
  
Laura’s hand that had been entrapped between their bodies throughout this whole process, came to a use too, when she dragged her fingertips over Carmilla’s body, digging her fingernails into soft skin, whenever the brunette -accidentally or not- brushed her clit with her thumb.  
  
  
“Is this good?”, Carmilla asked, actually not wanting an answer to that, but Laura gave her one.  
  
“Faster.”, she panted.  
  
The dark haired girl chuckled, “I don’t want you to come for me so soon.”  
  
Laura bunched up her face, in what she thought would spur Carmilla on to comply her wishes, to give her what she needed, but the brunette did the opposite. She had other ideas.  
  
“What the…”, the blonde asked, and opened her eyes, and when she saw the almost black pupils staring at her with stark determination and intensity, it made her even more wet.  
  
  
_Oh my god can you just…_  
  
  
Laura’s eyes grew wide, when she understood what Carmilla was doing, because she received one last lingering kiss and then the brunette moved along her body to her lower regions. Of course paying attention to her breasts along with it, licking unknown trails down to her abdomen, kissing the dip of her stomach.  
  
Carmilla bit down on the blonde’s hipbones, holding her down with both of her hands. She was happy with the wanton mess underneath her. It was her doing. She had that effect on Laura.  
  
It seemed like an eternity had passed, before Carmilla dipped down and let her tongue meet Laura’s most sensitive area. The moan that escaped the blonde’s mouth was magnificent. Carmilla was internally recording all those sounds of pleasure in her biological hard drive.  
  
Carmilla stopped for a moment, flipping her hair, so that it wouldn’t get in the way and looked up to be met with a split second of adoration from Laura, before her eyes fluttered shut, because the dark haired girl was busy licking into her entrance.  
  
Laura didn’t know how long she lasted, but Carmilla didn’t have to do much, before the blonde reached her state of absolute bliss. With everything that was needed for the recipe: dopey grin, flushed cheeks, tousled hair, sweat film on her body, but Carmilla found that it was the most beautiful and pure she’d ever seen her.  
  
The brunette lay down on her girlfriend, with her full weight pressing onto the tiny body, but Laura didn’t mind. She drove her hand through the dark haired girl’s mane and tried to even her own breathing.  
  
  
“Wow. That… Certainly was _something_.”, Laura drawled.  
  
Carmilla snorted, “Just _something?_ ”  
  
“Are you one of those people that need compliments in bed?”  
  
The brunette rolled her eyes, “I’m just happy you are not a boy. You wouldn’t last long, if you were.”  
  
  
Laura playfully shoved the girl off her, propping herself up on one arm and admiring Carmilla’s flawless body. Her skin was spotless, as if she were made of marble. The blonde had to touch and make sure, it really was human.  
  
“What?”, Carmilla asked, after blowing away some wet strands of her own hair that were falling into her face and obstructing the view of the beautiful girl in front of her.  
  
Laura smiled at her, so beautifully and leaned forwards to kiss her. She could taste herself on her girlfriend’s lips, which made her awfully aware of the fact that she did want to do all the things Carmilla just did to her.  
  
Her hand had a mind on its own, when it trailed along ribs, the curve of Carmilla’s waist, then her hipbones, pausing on her ass (because let’s face it that thing was glorious). Laura made it no big fuss, when she _‘accidentally’_ let her fingers trail down and meet with Carmilla’s center, causing her to gasp into their lip-lock.  
  
Carmilla was very unfocussed, so it happened that she soon lost her support on her right arm, and tumbled forwards, meeting Laura’s front, but the blonde didn’t do a thing about that fact. She just continued with her little torturous path, until Carmilla -very much like herself- couldn’t take it anymore and pleaded for her to give her a break and give into her needs.  
  
Oh, and she did do that. _She did do her._

Carmilla realized that it wasn’t just a silly fantasy anymore.  
  
  
  
  
“Get dressed, Carm! Will’s gonna be home pretty soon.”, Laura said, whilst checking her phone for the time.  
  
“I locked your door, he can get a hint, if he should -for whatever reason- decide to drop in on you.”  
  
The blonde rolled her eyes, “But we don’t want him to know, remember?”  
  
Carmilla -limbs all tangled with Laura’s- blew onto the blonde’s neck, causing goosebumps to erupt on her sensitive skin. She did leave a mark there earlier. _Ooops._ Hopefully no one would notice (with no one she did also hope for Laura’s obliviousness, because she would kill her).

  
“Carm… I’m serious. It’s like half past 5. Will and your mom are gonna be in any minute.”  
  
“God, you got what you wanted and now are throwing me out of your bed, huh?”, she said it playfully, but Laura still turned around slowly with a pained expression on her face, “No, Laura- Ugh, I didn’t mean it like that! I am stupid okay? You know that I say stupid things that I don’t mean sometimes.”  
  
“Yeah…”, the blonde licked her lips, and sat up, searching for her bra on the floor. Carmilla held her in place, “I’m being serious about getting dressed, Carm.”  
  
“I didn’t mean that.”  
  
“I know.”  
  
“Really?”, the brunette needed assurance, because she couldn’t screw this up again, “Because I don’t want you to be lowkey mad at me.”  
  
“I’m never only _lowkey mad_ at you. I only get really mad at you.”  
  
“Lauraaaa.”, the dark haired girl was being overly dramatic, but it did earn her a smile.  
  
“Fucking hell, I am not mad and now let me find my pants. This whole thing is stressing me out.”  
  
“Fine, fine.”, Carmilla finally did let go and made it her mission to get dressed and somewhat presentable for dinner.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
“It’s nice to see the family together for dinner.”, Greg said cheerily and clinked his wine glass with Veronica’s.  
  
“Yeah, super nice, dad!”, Laura chimed in and Carmilla hummed, happy smile plastered to her face.  
  
“What’s up with you?”, Will asked in his twin sister’s direction.  
  
“Why?”  
  
“I don’t know. Usually you’re so stuck up.”  
  
She only stuck out her tongue, “You’re the only stuck up one here, asshat.”  
  
“Carmilla!”, her mother scolded her.  
  
“What? He started it!”, the girl defended herself.  
  
“Really? Stop it you two!”, Veronica looked at her son, “William, how is that girlfriend of yours?”  
  
Carmilla almost spilled out her water, “His **what**?”  
  
“Haven’t you told your sister yet?”, the mother seemed surprised.  
  
“There is nothing to tell.”  
  
“Who is it?”, Laura wanted to know, genuinely interested. Veronica looked between the two of them, still suspicious.  
  
“No one from school. No one you know.”, was Will’s curt reply.  
  
“So you managed to snag a girl, who would have thought that?”, Carmilla said in a cheery voice.  
  
“Shut up!”  
  
Under the table Laura nudged Carmilla and when they matched their gazes, they threw each other a knowing smile.  
  
_Yes, it really was nice to sit with family_ , the youngest Karnstein thought.  
  
  
  
  
Will and Carmilla dematerialized within seconds after dinner, which left Laura alone with her father and stepmother doing the dishes. She didn’t mind having her parent for herself as a change.  
  
“How’s school sweetheart?”, Greg asked his daughter.  
  
Laura felt a little uneasy, because that’s what Carmilla called her. The memories of her, a needy mess beneath her, came crashing down on her. She did have a hard time responding with images of her hot, naked ( ~~stepsister~~ ) girlfriend flooding her mind, “If I carry on like this, I will be valedictorian.”  
  
“That’s my girl.”, Greg smiled fondly and handed her yet another plate to place in the dishwasher. As Laura did that, she brushed away her hair, so that it wouldn’t get in her way and it probably wasn’t that much of an good idea.  
  
  
“What’s that?”, he asked sternly and turned fully to examine his daughter’s neck, by pushing her hair away further.  
  
_The hickey. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck._


	22. Let's Talk About Sex

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “My seventeen-year-old daughter has a hickey on her neck and I’m supposed to relax?”

“Laura, what’s _that_ on your neck?”, Greg asked his daughter again, after she shrugged away his hand.  
  
“Nothing.”, her heart picked up speed.  
  
“Laura…”, he warned and she just glared at him.  
  
“ **What?!** ”, she snapped.  
  
“This is- You are…”, the father didn’t have the words.  
  
  
“What’s going on here?”, Veronica asked, after having fetched the rest of the used glasses from the dining table.  
  
“Laura has a-”  
  
“ **DAD!!!** ”, the blonde turned red. Just when she thought this day had been perfect, something like this ruined it.  
  
“Okay, calm down you two!”, Veronica asked of her husband and stepdaughter, causing Greg to scoff.  
  
“My seventeen-year-old daughter has _a hickey on her neck_ and I’m supposed to relax?”  
  
“Oh…”  
  
“Yes, _oh_ …”, he turned to Laura, “Laura, are you having sex?”  
  
“You cannot be seriously asking me that now...”  
  
“Answer the question.”, the man urged.  
  
“God, yes! And you know what else? I’ve been having sex for a year now. And brilliant, dad! Why don’t ya go around and tell all the neighbors too? I’m sure they’ll be thrilled to hear that!”, Laura was getting very angry at her dad.  
  
“Okay, uh, well… Greg, you said it, she’s seventeen… They are teenagers, things like these happen-”, Veronica tried to de-escalate the whole thing.  
  
“I know that _you_ like to raise your kids the _laissez faire style_ , but I am not letting my daughter have sex with seventeen, for god’s sake!”, Greg’s face turned red. Veronica was thrown off by that comment, or rather the semi-insult that it was.  
  
“Oh my god! Do you even listen to yourself?! You aren’t even here most of the time, but the moment I do something that doesn’t fit into your standards, you play out the dad-card? You know what? Screw you and your stupid rules!”  
  
“Laura-”, Veronica interjected.  
  
“No! He doesn’t have the right! And you know it too!”, Laura dried her hands on a nearby towel and rushed away.  
  
  
“You are grounded!”, Greg called after her.  
  
“FINE! Whatever! As if I couldn’t _do stuff_ anyway!”, is what he heard from her, before she scrambled up the stairs. Greg didn’t know, how true it was.  
  
He was left flabbergasted by his daughter’s words and the image of his daughter being defiled by some random football player or whoever it was.  
  
  
  
“Can you believe that?”, Greg asked his wife, who looked at him unimpressed.  
  
“No I actually can’t.”  
  
“I know right? She… The way she talked to me…”  
  
“No, Greg. I was talking about _you_. Do you really think, I am that bad as a parent?”  
  
“Of course not- I- You just raise your kids differently, but you have three of them. I am only left with one.”  
  
“Actually, I do have _four_ of them now. I count Laura to one of my own, you know?”  
  
“I didn’t mean it like that. I adore your kids, you know I do. It’s just-”  
  
Veronica shook her head, “No, she is right. You are never here. You don’t get to decide when you want to forbid her things. Do you think I don’t know, why you bought Laura a car for her birthday? You did it, because you felt bad for never being here.”  
  
“Are you now saying _I_ am a bad parent?”  
  
“No, absolutely not. You are a great guy, and that’s the reason I married you, but like I said, she is seventeen. You cannot lock her up and hope she doesn’t do things. I think it’s better to know, what they are doing and teaching them to be responsible.”  
  
  
Greg huffed out a breath, “She’s my little girl.”  
  
“She’s not little anymore. Have you seen your daughter? I know her reputation in school. Laura is popular and gorgeous, of course she has a boyfriend.”  
  
“Do you know who it is?”, the man wanted to know, but his wife shook her head.  
  
“Even if I did, I wouldn’t tell you. It’s hers to tell and you have to respect that.”  
  
Greg sat down on a bar stool, “She’s having sex, Veronica. For a year now!!!”  
  
“I know… And I know, it can be scary -god forbid I didn’t sleep for weeks, when I walked in on my daughter with a girl- but it is something that happens and I think you should talk to her about it.”  
  
“What do I say? Those are the things her mom did. I don’t- I can’t…”  
  
Veronica’s expression softened and she approached him, “Hey, it’s a good thing that you married me, hmn? I can help you out with that. I mean, she is mine too now. She probably is more comfortable with telling me anyway… And listening to me…”  
  
“Am I really that much of a workaholic?”  
  
“You are, but I am proud of your accomplishments and I know that you do it for us.”  
  
Greg sighed, capturing Veronica’s hands, “Hey, sorry for what I said earlier, yeah? You raised perfect kids. And all by yourself too. I mean, I am complaining about one, but you had thrice the trouble.”  
  
“Well Mattie was easy. The twins were a little bit of work, but yeah, they are good kids, aren’t they?”  
  
“They are.”  
  
  
  
  
  
Laura approached the hallway connecting her room with Carmilla’s to hear voices in her stepsister’s room. Will was there. _Perfect._ Now that she did need her girlfriend, the _asshat_ was there. The blonde was a little troubled that she picked up on Carmilla’s nickname for him.  
  
Just when she was about to get into her room, Carmilla called her over, “Creampuff, wanna-”, but there was just the loud thud of the door to be heard.  
  
  
“What’s up with virgin Mary over there?”, Will asked his sister, who just glared at him.  
  
“Don’t call her that.”  
  
“What? Don’t act like she isn’t tightly wound. I wonder if she’s a nun.”  
  
_Very much no_ , Carmilla thought, with a wicked grin on her face.  
  
“Why are you smiling?”, Will asked his twin, joining in. He thought that it was his joke, poor guy.  
  
“Just… **Nothing**.”  
  
“Admit it, the name fits.”  
  
“Uh-huh. Sure it does.”, she rolled her eyes.  
  
  
  
It was weird, sitting on the floor with her brother telling her about his girlfriend. When they had left the dinner table, Carmilla asked him about the girl he was supposedly dating and to her surprise he did tell her about someone he met at some weird party.  
  
Even though the brief bonding session felt good, because she hadn’t done this for ages with her twin, Carmilla still wondered what it was that set Laura so on fire. She made it her mission to find it out after Will finally decided to go to bed.  
  
Luckily it was pretty soon.

 

 

 

***

  
  
“Laura?”, Carmilla whispered into the dark, when she emerged at the bathroom door. She saw a figure in the bed, a phone screen being the only light besides the otherwise black room.  
  
“What?”, it was weak. Something wasn’t right.  
  
Carmilla padded over to where Laura was lying and sat on the edge of the bed.  
  
“What’s going on?”  
  
“Nothing.”, the blonde shrugged and hooked her phone to the charger beside her bed.  
  
“You sure? Cause it sure didn’t seem like nothing earlier.”  
  
Laura groaned, “My dad saw the…”, she trailed off, craning her neck, so that Carmilla would understand.  
  
“Oh.” _Oh, fuck_.  
  
“Yeah, **oh**. Thanks for that by the way, it hurts.”  
  
“I’m sorry, I wasn’t… You were…”, a blush creeped onto the brunette’s face and she was glad that the room was so dark.  
  
“Whatever… The point is, he freaked out over it and grounded me.”  
  
“Well he is actually doing me a favor with that…”, Carmilla grinned, not really sure, if Laura saw it.  
  
“We have to be more careful, Carm…”, Laura sighed and made room for the other girl to climb into bed with her.  
  
“Yeah? Is that why we are both lying in your bed right now?”, the dark haired girl wanted to know, while doing what was asked of her.  
  
“I just wanted to cuddle. We didn’t really get to do that earlier…”, the blonde said sheepishly.  
  
Carmilla leaned forwards to lean her forehead onto the other girl’s, breathing her in. She could trace that distinct scent of fresh laundry, fruity shampoo and something else. A trace of simply Laura.  
  
  
“Are you okay though? With your dad and all?”  
  
“Yeah… I mean… Look, it’s not like he’s around… He doesn’t get the right to just dictate me stuff.”, Laura was yawning. A good sign. She could just sleep her anger away.  
  
“He loves you though and you know it. He just is very, very…”  
  
“Fucking crazy?”, the blonde offered, stifling another yawn.  
  
“I was going to say overprotective. And hey, he has his reasons. I mean… He is worried for _you_ and that some douche is having his way with you.”  
  
“Yeah, a _pretty douche_.”, Laura grinned, and thanks to her adapted eyes, Carmilla actually caught onto that and pinched the blonde’s side.  
  
“Hey!”, Carmilla pouted, the blonde mimicked her and kissed those lips to conjure it away.  
  
  
Laura sighed and snuggled into her pillow, struggling with keeping her eyes open. Carmilla had that soothing effect on her. The brunette drove her hand through Laura’s hair, which added to that. Just as she was about to slip away into dreamland, Carmilla asked her one last question.  
  
“But in all seriousness though… What would your dad do, if like… If he knew it was me?”  
  
“He would kill you.”, Laura responded sleepily, the brunette was frowning, before noticing that the blonde was already dozing off.  
  
“Sleep tight, cutie.”, she said and placed one last kiss on her forehead, before trying to climb out of bed quietly.  
  
She looked at the peacefully sleeping girl. A content smile was decorating her beautiful features.  
  
  
“I love you.”, Carmilla whispered into the room, where darkness swallowed her words whole.  
  
Only the moon that shone through the window was there to listen to it. It was still only hers to know. All the secrets she had with and about this girl were a gift to her. She got to love her.

 

 

***

  
  
LaFontaine was generally a curious person. They were a scientist after all. So the fact that their best friend and her stepsister were seen (of course only by them, because they needed to use the bathroom during class) stepping out of the room for school supplies, striked to them as odd.  
  
The redhead cleared their throat, “Hollis, Karnstein… What are you two doing there?”  
  
Carmilla pocketed the key that she probably stole from her mother and rolled her eyes, “Get back to class, gingersnap.”  
  
Laura on the other hand -akin to a tomato in that moment- stuttered out a “Hey! Okay, bye!”, and ran away -very much like a scared chicken.  
  
  
LaF followed the blonde with their eyes and didn’t even try to hide their amusement, “So… Uh, how is your _stepsister_ , Carmilla?”  
  
“She is very fine, thanks for asking.”, the brunette squinted her eyes.  
  
“Yeah fine she is, but you would know, wouldn’t you?”  
  
“Hey! She’s _my_ girlfriend!”  
  
There she dropped the bomb. LaFontaine looked like they had won the science fair prize.  
  
“Your **girlfriend**?!”  
  
“Shut up!”  
  
“That’s so awesome!”  
  
Carmilla rolled her eyes, “Yeah, it is.”  
  
“A little more enthusiasm would be nice. You got the girl… Girl…”  
  
“Ehh, yeah I know, but can you please talk my ear off about it another time? I’m supposed to be in Political Geography right now.”  
  
“Yeah… Go back to _more PG_ stuff.”, they winked, “Oh my god, my puns are on point today!”, they laughed and Carmilla just shook her head on her way to her class.

 

 

***

  
  
“So Laura… We didn’t wanna say anything in front of your… Uh, _girlfriend_?”, the blonde nodded, “But like… How did that thing with you two happen right in front of our nose? I mean, it seemed like you guys were fighting the whole time, and now you’re together?”, Natalie had a good point there.  
  
“We were having some difficulty at first, but we sorted it out… I really do like her a lot, and I mean it would be better, if she weren’t _you know_ my stepsister, but like… She is so great- and like, have you seen her? She is so pretty and I never thought that-”, Laura turned down the swooning, feeling embarrassed.  
  
Natalie laughed, “Oh my god, you are _so gay_ for Carmilla.”, she whispered, so that no one would hear. They were in the common room after all.  
  
“Shut up!”  
  
“Hey, but if you say she’s great, then I believe you. I mean… You do have good taste, gotta give you that. Even though she is not really my piece of cake, I get what you see in her. She does look good to a point, I as a girl feel threatened by her, but like it’s totally cool, because everyone knows she is not into guys, so yeah… Good job, Laura.”  
  
“Thanks, I guess?”

  

***

  
  
Laura came home to find her stepsister sitting on the couch of the living room, reading a book. She immediately went straight to her, but Carmilla shook her head motioning towards the kitchen.  
  
Someone was home. The blonde deflated a little, but still sat on the armchair, ready to strike up a conversation, but never got that far.  
  
  
“Laura! Good! You’re home! I’ve been meaning to talk to you.”, Veronica greeted her stepdaughter. Carmilla turned around and eyed her parent suspiciously.  
  
“You’re home early so that you can talk to _her_?”, the brunette raised an eyebrow at her parent, but then resumed to reading. _Probably boring school committee stuff anyway_ , she thought.  
  
“Well… Uh…”, the mother scratched her forehead, “Actually your father asked me to… Have **the talk** with you.”  
  
  
Carmilla’s head snapped up, and her book was forgotten in no time. Laura was in her eyesight and she couldn’t help but laugh out loud -of course internally only. The blonde looked like she was about to faint.  
  
  
“You are **what**?”, Laura asked incredulously.  
  
“Just us girls… Actually, Carmilla do you mind…?”, Veronica asked her daughter to go to her room, but the dark haired girl raised a hand to stop her.  
  
“ _Oh no, I’m good_.” Carmilla was not going to pass up this fantastic opportunity of her mother giving Laura the exact sex-talk she had received, when she turned fourteen. Although she primarily got told that she was too young for sex.  
  
  
“Well, I suppose you can listen in too, if Laura doesn’t mind.”  
  
“Mhmm, uh no.”, was all the blonde could manage.  
  
  
_Oh my freaking god_.  
  
  
“Soo…”, Veronica sat beside her daughter, to be able to look Laura directly in the eyes, “Are you uhm familiar with- Actually, no, why don’t _you_ tell me, what you know?”  
  
Laura inhaled deeply, “I- Really, I am good. I know all the stuff. We learned everything in health class and I was at the event last year, remember? I wrote slogans like _If you don’t want a STD, put a rubber on the D!_ Sooo... Like... I am super good...”  
  
Carmilla laughed out furiously, “Wow!!! **You** came up with that?!”  
  
“Carmilla!”, Veronica scolded her daughter.  
  
  
One look from Laura, and the brunette was silent again. Oh yes, she would get punished for that later.  
  
  
“Sooo… Did you tell the truth about having sex in front of your father?”  
  
“Of course, why would I lie about that?”, the blonde didn’t understand.  
  
“I just thought, you could have told him that to make him angry, but the answer is yes?”  
  
“Uh…”, red did make her look so adorable, Carmilla thought, “Yes.”  
  
“Oh my… I mean- Good, as in good that you are being honest here, because I think that’s important.”  
  
“Mhm.”, Laura caught Carmilla’s varying expressions of amusement. _Not cool at all._  
  
  
“In all seriousness now… Are you on birth control?”  
  
“No.”, Laura shook her head. She wasn’t going to lie about it. Whatever the question might be. Well, at least not about those things.  
  
“Okay, do you want me to set up an appointment with a doctor-”  
  
“No.”  
  
Veronica nodded, although her uneasiness was palpable, “Are you having only one sexual partner?”  
  
Laura’s face remained straight, “Yes.”, Carmilla simultaneously bit her lip, lowering her gaze to the floor.  
  
“Good. Good. That’s good.”, the mother breathed out, “Does he… You do-”  
  
“I’m being careful.”, it was vague and hopefully appeasing enough.  
  
“Okay.”, Veronica nodded to herself, “You- Well, if you’re up for it, you can invite him over some time for dinner or something.”  
  
“Sure, yeah whatever.”, Laura brushed it off.  
  
“Good. This was good, right?”  
  
Carmilla snorted, “Yeah very _educational and not awkward at all_ , mother.”  
  
“Watch it, young lady.”, Veronica playfully warned, but then stood up and made her way to her study, “I am going to let you girls be. I have brought work home for this… And Laura?”  
  
“Yeah?”  
  
“Your dad only wants the best for you, you know that right? He just sometimes cannot express himself right, but he means well.”  
  
Laura nodded.  
  
  
  
  
“Well that was a kick.”, Carmilla grinned.  
  
A pillow hit the brunette’s face, “You are such an asshole.”  
  
“What? I didn’t do anything!”  
  
Laura rolled her eyes, “Yeah, no, you only sat there and let your mother embarrass me over and over again and laughed at everything.”  
  
“Sorry sweetheart, but it was just too fucking golden.”  
  
“Yeah, I’m curious for how hilarious it will be, when your mother finds out that we have been talking about **you** the whole time.”  
  
“Whatever…”, Carmilla took the pillow that she had caught earlier and placed it on her lap, leaning onto it, “How are you? We haven’t really talked lately.”  
  
“Ugh, don’t get me started. Fucking exams are swallowing me whole.”  
  
“Yeah… I dig that.”  
  
Laura furrowed her brows, “Do you though? It seems like you are reading for pleasure all the time instead of studying.”  
  
“Please, I do _other things_ for pleasure.”, Carmilla winked in the blonde’s direction.  
  
“Oh fuck off, don’t get me all-”  
  
“Fuck is exactly what I-”  
  
  
“Hey what are you two up to?”, Will walked in and Laura was kind of glad that he did, because she did not need to have those visuals in her head now. (Although her stepmom kind of already did ruin it for her.)  
  
“Mom just gave Laura **the talk**.”, Carmilla wiggled with her eyebrows and her twin began laughing on the instant.  
  
“What? Why?”  
  
“Just because.”, the blonde was annoyed with the Karnstein twins, “I am gonna go study, you two are only gonna make fun of me anyway.”  
  
“Pffff, no come baaack!”, Carmilla called after her and Laura turned around for a moment and blew her a kiss, which Will didn’t see. The dark haired girl grinned to herself, when Will sat himself beside his sister.  
  
It was weird. Ever since Will had his girlfriend, he seemed more content and Carmilla and him started spending more time with each other. (Meaning they sat in silence and watched TV, but it counted.)  
  
  
  
“You two should get your homework done. I’m making dinner soon.”, Veronica walked past her children and into the kitchen.  
  
“It’s five, why the hell are we having dinner so soon?”, Carmilla asked.  
  
“With soon I meant in an hour, but you two are always stalling with your homework and don’t think I don’t know about your exam schedule! Just because I don’t have you two in English, doesn’t mean Dennis doesn’t tell me about you.”  
  
“Ugh, don’t believe a word he says. He hates me!”, Carmilla groaned.  
  
“He hates your lack of participation darling. And now go, before I order you to do homework in front of me.”  
  
Both kids shared a look and made their way upstairs.  
  
  
  
Laura was invested in some serious reading, with her headphones plugged in, listening to music. That was also the reason for her not hearing Carmilla getting into her bedroom. In fact she only was aware of the fact, when the other girl’s arms sneaked around her waist.  
  
“Gosh, you scared me! What the hell, Carm? Does it turn you on to do that or what?”, the blonde yanked out her earbuds.  
  
Carmilla chuckled, “ _Really not_ , but I was hoping you would need a break?”, the dark haired girl rested her head on her girlfriend’s shoulder, “Whatya reading?”  
  
Laura closed the book, to show the other girl.  
  
“How many pages are you in? Is Tom dead yet?”  
  
“Carm! No spoilers!”, Laura turned around in her revolving chair, to face Carmilla, “Wait a minute… You read this…”  
  
“Yes, I read that with nine. Harper Lee is nothing compared to Kant. Stuff for toddlers.”  
  
“And did you understand the issue back then?”  
  
“I have an adopted black sister who got looked at weirdly when I told everyone she was my family member. What do you think?”  
  
Laura nodded to herself, “Right…”  
  
“Hmn.”, the brunette leaned forwards, not caring about assignments anymore, and kissed the blonde.  
  
“Carm… What are you doing?”, said girl placed her hand on Laura’s neck and urged her to open her mouth with her tongue.  
  
  
  
“Laura, I need some help with this- **Oh shit!** ”, Will stood in the doorway and looked at the couple in disbelief.


	23. Busted

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “You saw me shoving my tongue down her throat. Do I really need to spell it out for you?”

“Yes, _oh shit_.”, Carmilla groaned and detangled herself from her girlfriend.  
  
Will walked into the room, closing the door behind himself.  
  
“What’s going on here? Sisterly bonding? Is that what people do nowadays? Did I miss something?”  
  
Laura was probably dying of an heart attack in that moment and remained silent. The brunette placed a hand on her shoulder to reassure her a little.  
  
  
“Please don’t tell mom.”  
  
“I wanna know what I just walked in on, before I decide on anything.”, the boy replied with his risen eyebrows.  
  
“You are sounding like dad right now.”, Carmilla scoffed.  
  
“Are you seriously insulting me, from the position you are in?”, he asked.  
  
“Stop it you two!”, Laura apparently had found her speech again, “Will please, you **can’t** tell any of our parents.”  
  
“I would still like to know what the hell I just saw.”  
  
“You saw me _shoving my tongue down her throat_. Do I really need to spell it out for you?”, Carmilla had this defensive asshole behavior Laura already got in touch with, whenever she was scared.  
  
“I saw that very fine, no worries.”, Will said, clearly still confused.  
  
“So what do you want me to say?”  
  
“Are you what? Turning her gay now?”  
  
Laura chuckled, “Oh hell no. I was _mega-super-gay_ before Carm did anything. Carm’s hot, but she’s not **that** hot.”  
  
Carmilla squinted her eyes at the other girl for a second.  
  
  
Will looked at the blonde wide-eyed, “What is this then?”  
  
“We are dating.”, Laura said with a look at her stepsister, “And we know it’s like totally weird or something… But-”  
  
“We need you to not tell our parents, Will.”, Carmilla spoke seriously.  
  
  
  
Will closed his eyes, frowning, “So what…? That whole time I was after you, it had been a lost cause?”  
  
The girls shared a look, before Laura found the courage to finally speak the truth.  
  
“I’ve known that I’m into girls for like a year now and I didn’t tell anyone, because really, it was no one’s business and I felt like since everyone knew about Rick and I, there were extra eyes on me and I just didn’t want everyone to butt into my life. I wanted this to be private.”  
  
“So you’ve been keeping the boys on your string?”, Will asked.  
  
“It’s not as easy, as you paint it out to be.”, Carmilla tried to defend her girlfriend.  
  
“That’s not for you to say. For you it was that easy. You made out with a girl by the lockers and everyone knew.”, the boy countered.  
  
“Listen-”, Carmilla wanted to intervene, but got interjected herself.  
  
“No, he’s right Carm. I am a coward. Is that what you want me to say, Will? That no one in school knows, is me being a chicken, but that doesn’t mean I am a coward in regards to our parents, because you know how it went down when your mom found out the thing with you and I.”  
  
“Yeah? Did she find out or did you _tell_ her?”  
  
Laura closed her eyes, “I’m still sorry about that.”  
  
  
Will scratched his neck, and after a while he finally spoke, “Just don’t be such fucking fools and leave your doors unlocked.”, he said and walked out of the room.  
  
  
“Did he just…? That meant he’s not gonna tell, right?”, Laura’s eyebrows shot up in surprise.  
  
“Yeah… I don’t think so.”, Carmilla exhaled deeply.

 

 

***  
  


“Soo… Girls? How is school?”, Veronica asked, seeing the situation on the dinner table was tensed, ever since Greg had confronted his daughter about the mark her glittering girl had left there (of course not knowing that it was _her_ doing).

“Seriously? Can’t you talk about _anything_ else?”, the brunette glared.

“Why kitty? Did you have _anything else_ to talk about?”, Will shot his sister a knowing look.

Laura tensed up, “School’s super fine. The exams are going great, right Carm?”

“Yeah. Right, Carm?”, Will mimicked. He was teasing them both, but judging on the looks of him, Carmilla knew that he wouldn’t spill.

“I’m sure the exams aren’t the _only things_ that are going great.”, Greg scoffed, not meeting his daughter’s eyes.

“Yeah, and how is work dad? You know what we all could get you for your birthday? A bed for your office, so that you don’t have to come home anymore, since you live there anyway.”

Father and daughter shared a heated moment of eye-contact.

“I’m sure you would need a new bed too with all the things you’ve been doing in yours.”

“Okay first of all, you don’t even know what you are talking about and second of all, seriously? I am seventeen. This kind of childish behavior is pretty normal for me, but you’re 43. You are my father.”

“Oh, so _now_ I am your father?”

The blonde exhaled shortly and stood up, “Excuse me, I just lost my appetite.”

“Laura-”, the father tried, but the blonde was already walking away.

Carmilla stared after her, wanting to stand up, but her brother hit her shin under the table and shook his head.

“Maybe I should…?”, Greg asked in his wife’s direction.

Veronica looked at him with a risen eyebrow, “Go upstairs and apologize? Yeah, maybe you should.”

 

“Laura…?”, Greg knocked on her door and let himself in.

“What? Didn’t you have enough already?”, the blonde was sitting at her desk again and trying to finish her reading.

“I’m sorry for what I said down there.”

The girl shrugged.

“I wanted to talk to you sooner actually about- Well about what happened last week.”, he elaborated further, sitting on the bed.

“What’s there to talk about? Don’t worry stepmommy took care of that.”, Laura said with an eye-roll.

“Yeah no not exactly _that_. I just wanted to apologize for my reaction, but I didn’t know how to take such an information. You are my little girl. And now at the dinner table…”

“I’m not twelve anymore dad.”

“I know.”, Greg sighed, “You’ve grown up so fast and I just- But I know that I can’t lock you up.”

“Especially not when you’re not here to lock me up.”, Laura said humorlessly.

“I’m sorry darling. I know that we haven’t really spent any time together lately.”

“No, it’s okay. I get it. You are some hot-shot business man now or whatever…”

“Tell you what? I’ll take you out to dinner next Friday and you can tell me all about your- Uh, boyfriend.”

“Friday’s the winter carnival thing.”

“In February?”

“Don’t ask me.”, Laura shrugged, “Ask your wife.”

“Okay, so Saturday? Just you and me?”

“Sounds nice, dad.”

 

 

***  
  


Will was in his room, when a knock on his door appeared.

“Can I come in?”, it was Laura. The dark haired boy nodded, placing his phone on his desk.

 

“Soo… I actually never been in this room before.”, the blonde started the conversation, eying the various trophies. He was definitely the sporty kid in the family.

 

“Will…”, Laura said, when she didn’t have any other comments to make, “Thank you for not telling our parents yesterday.”

“My mother would freak out and your dad- No offense, but he is really intense. I’m doing us _all_ a favor here.”

“I know.”, the girl squirmed and squinted her eyes, seemingly uneasy.

“But this isn’t gonna work Laura. Not for _you_ and not for _my sister_.”

Laura closed the door to his room fully and got closer to him, “What do you mean?”

“My sister’s been into you for a whole eternity. I knew it, even though you told me she wasn’t. And you? I don’t know much, but I know that you are like me. We both like to party and drink ourselves into oblivion and we both can do that while our parents think we are saints. You are a player at heart, Laura. You want adventures and Carmilla needs stability. She’s been through enough with our asshole of a father and her fucking ex.”

“I’m not playing with Carm. Why does everyone think that?!”

“Really? Do you love her?”

“ **Of course I do!** ”

Will’s eyes grew wide, as well as Laura’s, “Woah there- Is this for real?”

Laura couldn’t believe it herself, it was the most straightforward answer, without her even intending to say it, “I guess- I mean, yeah it is as real as it gets… I- I haven’t told her yet though.”

“Wow… Well in this case… You two need to tell our parents sometime in the future. You know that, right?”

“We still have time. It’s not like we’re gonna marry now and stuff.”

“My mother’s gonna kill my sister.”, Will shot Laura a sympathetic smile and exhaled deeply.

“My dad too.”, Laura groaned.

 

 

***  
  


“Fuck!”, Carmilla rubbed her elbow that just hit the frame of her bed, while Laura tried to keep her laughter at bay. It was very late after all.

The blonde tried to distract the other girl with light kisses against her exposed chest.

“Kiss me.”, the brunette ordered in a whisper, and Laura complied gladly.

Kissing and trying to make no sounds at the same time was a special task. However that’s what their nights mostly consisted of. Plus the horror, whenever they heard someone walk outside of their door. With Will knowing about them, it had gotten a little easier, but still keeping their whole relationship a secret was very tricky.  


“Hey, so… I have to ask you something…”, Carmilla began.

Laura shifted her weight, so she was laying on top of her girlfriend, but her torso was held up by her forearms.

“Yeah?”

“You know my friend LaF, right?”, the blonde nodded, “They’ve kind of been pining for Perry since _the beginning of time_.”

“You mean like _you’ve been for me_?”, Carmilla rolled her eyes at that comment.

“So I was thinking. The winter carnival thing is on Friday before break, right? Maybe we could come up with a plan to actually help them get further than just staring at each other from the distance.”

“Wait so, you wanted to ask me if I wanted to play cupid with you?”

“Yeah. They should finally do something about it. It’s ridiculous.”, Carmilla sighed.

“I get what you mean. They went to prom together! How did they not kiss already?”, Laura was seriously in awe about that fact.

“Not everyone’s as greedy as **you** , Creampuff.”, the blonde pouted, “I’m very grateful though that you were.”

“Okay, so what’s your plan?”

“You are organizing that whole thing and I’m guessing you wanted to go with me...”, Carmilla started and Laura squinted her eyes.

“Go on…”

 

 

***  
  


“LaF, buddy, what’s up?”, Laura slung her arm around the redhead, while Carmilla walked on either side of the ginger, with them eying both suspiciously.

“What’s up with you two?”

“Can’t I walk my best friend to their class with my girl?”, Carmilla asked, her face as bored as ever.

LaFontaine looked at Laura, who just shrugged, “Seriously, if I’m being used here for your pity projects, Ms. Popular, I’ll pass.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”, Laura frowned.

“You only hanging with us underdogs, because it’s good for your image at school?”

The blonde looked at them incredulously, before averting her gaze to her girlfriend solely, “Carm, is that what you think too?”

“No! Of course not!”

“Whatever… You deal with **this** … I have to get to class.”, Laura was walking away.

“ _But class doesn’t begin until_ …”, Carmilla trailed off, and then fixated her best friend, “What the fuck was that?!”

“Ugh, I just hate her smile.”, LaFontaine groaned.

“You can’t talk _about_ and _to_ my girlfriend like that.”

“Fuck… Sorry, I know I must come off like the hugest asshole, but I just didn’t have the capacity to deal with her being all chipper and super nice. That’s why I am friends with you, Karnstein. Because you usually are a broody asshole yourself.”  


“Okay, okay.”, Carmilla closed her eyes and inhaled deeply, “What the hell is wrong with you?”

“The winter carnival thing is up and I still haven’t asked Perry and ugh what if she already has someone else to go with? Or what if she doesn’t want to go with me at all?”

Carmilla sighed, “Is that making you all grumpy?”

LaFontaine smiled sheepishly.

“Because Laura and I wanted to help you out in that department.”

“Really?”

“Yes, really and now go to English, R221 and apologize to my girlfriend.”

 

 

***  
  


“Friday is coming up soon, huh?”, Carmilla wanted to know from her girlfriend, who was going through some folders on that topic (meaning the winter carnival) at the dining table at Karnstein manor.

“Ugh yes. Last year it was a catastrophe. Ell did a poor job with the- oh my gosh I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to-”

“Sweetheart, it’s okay. How can I help?”, the brunette leaned over the table they were sitting at.

Laura looked at the other girl with surprise evident in her voice, “You wanna help?”

“Duh, what would you do without me? I was good with prom too, wasn’t I?”

“Yeah, but I had to force you to help me.”

“What!? You didn’t even have to beg me for it. I've never done this stuff for anyone!”, the dark haired girl said somewhat offended.

“Really? Not even for Ell?”, the blonde dared to ask, but by the looks of it, it had been a mistake.

“I wasn’t really together with her anymore at this time last year and Ell didn’t want my help.”

“Sorry, I'm such a jerk, pestering you with questions about her.”

“It’s okay. I mean, we are together, right? We can talk about this stuff, if you want.”

“Yeah. I mean, you can tell me about her, whenever you wanted to, just saying.”

Carmilla chuckled, “You are dying to know what happened right?”

“Only if you wanna tell me.”, Laura smiled somewhat sheepishly.

“Alright then, buckle up, Creampuff.”

It was easy talking about that now. It had been an eternity ago. And Carmilla felt nothing for Ell anymore.

 

“So she cheated on you?”, Laura asked with wide eyes.

“With the entire football team.”, the blonde frowned.

“I don’t understand. Why would _anyone_ cheat on you?”

Carmilla shrugged, “I guess, I’m not _that great of a catch_ after all.”

“Don’t be ridiculous, Carm. You are like the _sweetest person_ I know. You helped me with prom, back then, even though I kinda was a dick to you, and I know, you didn’t do it just for me, but-“

“Don’t be an idiot! Of course I did it for you! I told you so often that I love doing things just for you, because I-“, fuck, almost slip-up, “ _Freaking adore you_ and I like seeing you happy.”

“You’re such a sweetheart.”, Laura said before placing a kiss on Carmilla’s cheek. _And I kinda love you a lot. Ugh._

“The nicknames are reserved for me only, cutie.”

“What? I can at least claim one as mine, can’t I? How about _honey_?”

“ **Ew** that’s absolutely cringeworthy. Sounds like we’re an old married couple.”

“Okay then, how about…", the blonde was seriously going through some terms of endearment in her head.

“How about simply _Carm_? That’s like the ultimate thing. Only _you_ get to call me that. Just like only I call you all those sugary nicknames.”

“Fine. Carm will have to do... Or maybe I’ll pick up on Millie.”, Laura giggled and earned a glare from Carmilla for that.

_Oh yes, totally in love with Carmilla Karnstein._

  


 

***

  
  
“Mind if I sit here?”, Laura asked a curly redhead, whose eyes were almost falling out of the sockets. The blonde sat down unceremoniously and began eating her lunch.

 

“I- Uh- Did I- Is this… Did I steal away your table?”, Perry wanted to know, already packing up her stuff to not intrude anymore.

“No, no, no!”, the redhead was standing, Laura pointed to her seat, “ **Sit!** I mean- Not that I’m ordering to do so or anything, but I wanna talk to you.”

“Oh… Okay.”

“My name’s Laura by the way! And you’re Lola Perry, right?”, she didn’t really remember, if she had already introduced herself once.

“Yes… And I know who you are.”, Perry said with her gaze held on the surface in front of her.

“Right. Soooo… You know LaFontaine, right?”

A blush creeped up on Perry’s face, “Yes- Why? Is something wrong with them?”

“No, not at all… I was just wondering… Uhm… Because… Actually… You know Carmilla too, right?”

“Yes of course! She is the first person to ever actually acknowledge me. She’s so nice.”

Laura’s eyebrows shot up, “Oh really?” She knew that her girlfriend tried to set those two redheads up, but wasn’t aware that Carmilla Karnstein left such a good impression with anyone who actually gave her a chance. Although, thinking of it, it made sense now. Even the girliest girls of her high school, aka her best friends liked Carmilla. There was something so likeable about her, even though she did try to keep anything or anyone away from her.

“Whatever, not the point. I uhm… Was going to the winter carnival with Carmilla and LaFontaine’s coming too, so I thought you’d wanna tag along to our little _single people club_.”

“But I thought you were dating Carmilla?”, Perry asked.

“Did she tell you that?”, Laura’s eyes grew wide.

The redhead shook her head, “No, but I saw you two kissing at the dance.”

“ **What?!** ”

“Don’t worry. I obviously didn’t tell anyone. Not even LaFontaine.”

“Oh… Thank you…”

“Your secret’s safe with me… And… I’d love to go on a double date with you guys.”, the redhead beamed.

Laura reciprocated, lifting up an eyebrow, “So does LaFontaine know that you like them like that? Because you know… They kinda like you too. **A lot**.”

“No… But I am awaiting for them to actually do something about it. I mean, I kissed them on the cheek at prom! Who doesn’t get the hint???”

The blonde giggled, “It sounds so pure and sweet. Anyways, you be ready at five on Friday, Carm and I are gonna pick you up. And we will get this whole thing rolling.”

“Sounds good.”  
 

 

 

***

  
  
“Did you pass all your exams?”, Laura asked her girlfriend, who was currently lying next to her. They were just taking a break from a breathtaking session of _after-school-noone’s-home_ smooching. It was one day before the carnival, everything was set and Laura was finally able to do other school-unrelated things.

“Yeah I did.”

“Really? I didn’t see you study that much for that.”

“I’m a smart girl, haven’t you noticed?”, Carmilla turned to face the blonde.

“Of course I know but still…", Laura rolled over, immediately holding herself on her forearms above Carmilla’s body.

 

“Mhm... We have semester break in exactly 17 hours.”, Carmilla remarked.

“Yeah, I know. This school year’s passing by like crazy.”, they shared a short kiss.

“True. It’s been almost three months since we first kissed at prom.”, the brunette said absently, playing with a blonde lock.

Laura looked at Carmilla incredulously, “Wow, full stop romantic, eh? Remembering dates and all?”

“Shut up. You melt for that shit... Don’t think I don’t know.”

“Yeah I would melt, if you wouldn’t call it _shit_ , dumbass.”, Laura rolled her eyes.

“So did you wanna do something? When we have off? We could drive somewhere. We could do a date. I’ll take you out for dinner, at a nice place and I’ll buy you chocolate and roses and-“

“Carm, you already got me like fifty thousand roses, if you count prom and Valentine’s together.”

“But you like roses! And chocolate! You love those things!”

“Yeah _I do_. And that's really, really sweet. I’d love that.”, Laura smiled and leaned down to capture the other girl’s lips.

The kiss started out innocent, but both of them didn’t really have the time to be with each other during exam time and somehow Laura quickly had popped open Carmilla’s pants.  


“Wow, if I had known that romancing you would get me laid, I would have done it so much sooner.”

The blonde, who was currently kissing down a trail on her neck leaned back, “Joke’s on you. You did romance me, but still it took like more than a month for you to get any.”

“At least now I can sleep with you whenever I want.”, Carmilla chuckled, twirling a strand of Laura’s hair between her fingers.

“Mhm…”, Laura was fumbling with the hem of Carmilla’s shirt, deciding it wasn’t worth it, to take it off now. They did have a tight schedule. Apparently the brunette caught onto that.  


“What, am I only worth a quick fuck?”, she chuckled.

“What girls did give for _a quick fuck with me_ …”, the blonde drawled and Carmilla immediately stilled, “What’s wrong?”, Laura asked insecurely.

“Nothing…”, the dark haired girl pointed to her lips, to signify that she wanted a kiss, but Laura broke it, when she felt that Carmilla wasn’t really deepening the lip-lock.

 

“What’s up?”, the blonde asked immediately.

“How many?”

“How many _what_?”, Laura gave her a bewildered look.

“How many girls were lined up? Or _are_ lined up, I guess.”

“God…”, the blonde rolled her eyes, "Not **that** many."

"With how many have you had the pleasure?"

"Are you seriously gonna do this now?"

Carmilla shook her head, "No, sorry. I'm an idiot. It's not really my business... Although I did tell you about Ell..."

"Yeah but what you asked me now is the same as me asking you how often you two had sex."

The dark haired girl opened her mouth to speak, but Laura beat her to it with a pointed look.

"I don't wanna know about **that** , Carm.”

"Okay fair enough...", the brunette let her head meet the pillow, "I totally ruined the mood didn't I?"

Laura frowned, before crawling to the edge of the bed and stepping to Carmilla's window, "We wouldn't have gotten far anyway, your mom just arrived home."

 

The brunette fixed her hair and wiped her mouth.

 

“Back to our daily routine, hmn?”, Carmilla drawled.

The blonde quirked up an eyebrow, before making her way to her own room.

Somehow Carmilla had the feeling that she had ruined a lot more than it seemed to her in the moment.


	24. Revelation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Damn, fucking finally!”

Laura was getting ready in the bathroom, when Carmilla walked in and leaned her head onto the blonde’s shoulder, eyeing her through the mirror.  
  
“You are soooo hot. I don’t even know why I deserve to be with you.”, the dark haired girl said after placing a lingering kiss on Laura’s neck.  
  
“Watch it, Carm. Your mom’s lurking around in the hallway.”  
  
“So? It’s not like we’re banging in here.”  
  
“Carm! Would you please not call it that?”, Laura said sternly, but chuckled nonetheless.  
  
“Although…”, Carmilla snaked her hand into the blonde’s pants, cupping her-  
  
“Stop it, Carm.”, the brunette didn’t obey though, “I’m serious. I don’t-”, the blonde inhaled deeply.  
  
“Are you absolutely sure you don’t want to…?”  
  
“We’re running late for school.”  
  
There was a moment in which both of the girls looked at each other closely (all still through the mirror).  
  
“Is everything okay between us?”, the brunette dared to ask, after moving her hand somewhere safe.  
  
“‘Course, why wouldn’t it be?”  
  
“Because you’re acting kind of weird. Weirder than usual.”  
  
Laura turned around, placing her arms around the other girl’s neck, “Just because I don’t wanna be late for school in exchange for some _half ass action_ in our bathroom?”  
  
“Half ass action?”, Carmilla gasped, “I am certainly not known for half ass-ness.”  
  
The blonde giggled, “I think though that I do deserve better, don’t you?”  
  
“Ugh, you are no fun, Hollis.”  
  
“Now, come on. We still have to plan for LaF and Perry’s date tonight.”  
  
“Okay, okay.”, the dark haired girl relented and got her backpack from her room.  


 

 

***

  
  
“I thought you were coming at five? And… With Carmilla?”, Perry greeted the blonde -aka president of the school committee, when she stood at her door.  
  
“Yeah no, change of plans. LaF is riding with Carm and you are stuck with me. I have to be there earlier.”  
  
“Why? Isn’t everything all set already? Why do you have to be there earlier?”  
  
“It is, but I just needed some space.”, Laura rolled her eyes, “Carm said something and I just need some space to think about it… _Whatever_.”  
  
“Uh… Why don’t you come in and tell me about it? I have yet to touch up a few things anyway, before we can go.”, the redhead opened her door wider for Laura to step into her home.  
  
  
“You have a nice house.”, the blonde remarked.  
  
“Thank you. Would you like anything to drink or eat?”, Perry offered but the other girl shook her head, following her schoolmate upstairs into what it seemed like her room.  
  
  
  
“And now tell me. Are you having issues with Carmilla?”, the redhead asked, while applying mascara.  
  
Laura looked around the pictures in the room, answering absentmindedly, “I don’t know. Will said something and then she did too. And I just don’t know what to think of it.”  
  
“What did she say?”  
  
“Well… It’s not really exactly _what_ she said, but more what she implied or what I think she thinks and-”  
  
“Stop it right there, Laura. Before you think about what she thinks, just straightforwardly ask her.”  
  
“But I feel like everyone has a specific idea of who I am, where I don’t even know who I am. Like for instance at school. I try so hard not to fit into any person’s picture of me or whatever, but I always end up in one.”  
  
“I’m pretty sure Carmilla doesn’t have a bad picture of you. Have you seen the way she looks at you?”, Perry looked back at the other girl over her shoulder.  
  
“I know she doesn’t. I’m not saying she thinks that I’m-”, Laura stopped, remembering that she didn’t even tell the redhead what this all was about, “You don’t really know me... What do **you** think of me?”  
  
Perry eyed the floor for several seconds, blinking and then looked up to be met by a pair of anxiously awaiting eyes, “I think you’re one of the friendliest people I got to know. And I now understand, why everyone loves you at school and I think you are doing a great job at the committee.”, the redhead was pressing together her lips, letting her gaze wander, as if there was more.  
  
“And…?”  
  
“And I think you are in love with her, and are afraid to admit it. Maybe because you fear Carmilla thinks -whatever it is- that one thing you don’t want her to think or maybe because you know it makes it all real and that you think you have to find a reason to stop feeling like that, because… _Reasons_.”  
  
Reasons. Meaning Carmilla being her stepsister. Perry was undoubtedly meaning that by that word.  
  
Laura closed her eyes. So that whole love thing was _that_ obvious.  
  
“Do you think it is distasteful?”, the blonde asked her schoolmate, who smiled warmly at her.  
  
“Suppose both of your parents weren’t married and you didn’t live under the same roof. Would you still have fallen for her?”  
  
“If I was given the chance to get to know her, yes.”  
  
“So falling in love with her wasn’t because you were primarily seeing her as your stepsister, correct?”  
  
“Ew, of course not!”, Laura made a face of disgust.  
  
“Then why are you afraid it is something distasteful? You can’t help feelings sometimes, Laura. It may not be the best situation, but you two aren’t related. Your parents fell in love with each other and what kind of parents would they be, if they wouldn’t want you two to be happy too?”  
  
This was something big to dwell on.

 

 

***

  
  
“Where’s your girl?”, LaFontaine asked their best friend impatiently, actually looking for a familiar redhead.  
  
“She’s here somewhere with Curly Sue, no worries.”  
  
“What’s up with the change of plans? Weren’t we all supposed to drive here together?”  
  
“Yeah we were, but I guess Laura wanted to be here early, because she set this whole thing up and all.”  
  
They passed a candy corner and Carmilla immediately stopped to buy some random candy assortments for her girlfriend. LaFontaine got some gummi worms for themselves.  
  
  
“There you guys are!”, the redhead turned around and jogged over to where Laura and Perry were calling them over. Carmilla groaned, but secretly she already had planned on paying for LaFontaine’s candy anyway.  
  
  
“How ‘bout we all hit some rides, before this place gets more crowded?”, Laura suggested and the others agreed immediately.  
  
“Wait…”, Carmilla held the blonde back to give the two redheads a head start to the ferris wheel.  
  
Laura looked at her arm, where the brunette was holding her back and raised an eyebrow at her, “Don’t be so fucking obvious.”  
  
“What…?”, the brunette was taken aback by that comment.  
  
“Nothing.”, Laura groaned, “Come on, Carm. Ferris wheel!”  


 

 

***

  
  
“Ugh, LaFontaine is becoming _LaFonlame_. They should really step it up a little. I mean, this is totally like in _The OC_. I bought them five rides for the ferris wheel and they are probably talking about DNA sequences or PCR methods.”, Laura complained, still very invested in the redheads’ love life. (More than her own.)  
  
Carmilla chuckled, “What do you know about those things? You’re not even in science classes.”  
  
“I watch documentaries sometimes… When I’m bored.”  
  
“God, you’re such a nerd.”  
  
“Yeah right. Says the girl that reads Camus in her free time.”, the blonde said and smacked her hand against the brunette’s arm.  
  
  
Carmilla bit her lip and checked, if anyone could listen in on their conversation, “Hey Laura… Are we okay?”  
  
“It isn’t a crime to be a nerd, y’know?”  
  
“No… I meant _you and I_. Is everything okay between us?”  
  
“Of course. Why wouldn’t it be?”, Laura said, making her way to the ferris wheel to catch up on their friends. (Who still had managed to do nothing.)  
  
  
  
“Why weren’t you guys riding with us?”, LaF asked, as they approached the stepsisters.  
  
“Because _someone_ just spent all her money on _you guys_.”, Carmilla gave the redheads a pointed look, “Although the money thing I don’t get… You are organizing. Some would think you get some perks of being president of the school committee…”, that was addressed to the blonde.  
  
“That’s why my _girlfriend’s_ here for. You can pay for my rides.”, Laura waved her off.  
  
“Of course I would- Wait a sec, you just-”, the dark haired girl looked at Perry, who gave her an unimpressed look.  
  
The blonde caught onto the problem, “Oh, don’t worry Carm. She knows. She’s seen us kissing at prom.”  
  
“You have?”  
“What?!”  
  
LaFontaine and Carmilla were sharing a look.  
  
“Yes I have, but I thought it was no one’s business.”, Perry explained herself.  
  
“Woah. I sure do like your girlfriend, Gingersnap.”, Carmilla sighed, “Okay, let’s get to the ghost train. I heard it’s _extra spooky_ this year.”  
  
“But she’s not my-”, LaF tried, but was dragged along with Perry.  
  
Carmilla looked over her shoulder and winked at them, while Laura whispered something, “You’re playing this matchmaker thing so well, Karnstein.”  


 

 

***

  
  
“Do Carmilla and Laura seem weird to you?”, LaF asked right away, when the -allegedly spooky- ride started.  
  
“Uh… Let’s leave their business to them. **We** are here together. Let’s for once not think about other things.”, Perry replied, seemingly unimpressed by a plastic spider hitting her temple.  
  
“Well yeah, we are all here together.”  
  
Perry rolled her eyes and looked to her right, when suddenly a creepy man came at her out of nowhere, this was her chance. She never lied. She was an honest person, but sometimes people needed a shove in the right direction.

“Oh gosh!”, she grabbed LaFontaine’s arm and linked hers with theirs, pretending to be scared.  
  
“Are you- Are you like scared or something? You don’t have to be, y’know, because I am here and… Uh-”  
  
“I hate spiders!!! And weird men and creepy lights!”, the redhead suddenly screamed.  
  
“Those are fake! Perr’, don’t worry, I’m here...”  
  
The redhead moved closer to the other one, who enjoyed this (not spooky at all) ghost ride after all. This was her chance, the curly redhead looked at the other, and how they cared for her wellbeing and wanting to protect her from _not-scary-at-all-ghost-rides._  
  
“Wicked! Those fluorescent ghost-”, LaFontaine was interrupted midway, when Perry cut them off with a kiss.  
  
  
“Woah there…”, their eyes were wide, after the short interruption ended.  
  
“You never would have done it, would you?”, the curly one said with an exasperated sigh.  
  
“I- I- Didn’t think- And you-”, Perry cut them off again, and this time they didn’t end the kiss shortly after.  
  
  
  
  
“Damn, fucking finally!”, Carmilla cheered them on from behind (Laura wondered, how she saw them smooching at all in the darkness, when there were _flying spiders_!).  
  
“Shhh, let them have their moment.”  
  
“I’d love to have one with you.”, the brunette whispered to the other girl, who smiled at her. There was something unfamiliar in her facial expression. Laura looked down.  
  
  
“What’s wrong?”, a green ghost jumped into Carmilla’s view, when she let her gaze wander to the cart in front of her, “Jesus!” (Okay, that was totally not scary or something- just unexpected.)  
  
“Nothing’s wrong.”, Laura replied, biting her lip.  
  
“Shouldn’t we be celebrating? Hello? We make a great matchmaker team.”  
  
“Yeah…”, Laura scoffed, “We sure are great with those things, as long as it doesn’t have anything to do with our own love life.”  
  
“What’s _that_ supposed to mean?”  
  
“Nothing. Just… Nothing.”, the blonde closed her eyes and shook her head.  
  
“No, tell me what you meant!”  
  
“Do you think I’m a player? Do you think I could cheat on you?”  
  
Carmilla wanted to respond, but then she saw the light of day again and Laura’s face clearly -her face that looked so hurt and vulnerable.  
  
  
  
“Guys? Do you wanna go another round? Ghost rides are the best!”, LaFontaine exclaimed happily, clearly not seeing the tension in their faces.  
  
Laura got out and shook her head no, telling them to go on another ride, and smiled. Carmilla paid for another round for her friends. The blonde saw it and smiled at her girlfriend for a moment, before remembering the thick air between them.  
  
  
“Can we talk about this?”, Carmilla asked, clearly also confused and hurt by Laura’s semi-accusation.  
  
“Not now… I- Have to meet with SJ. She is supposed to sell pop corn around somewhere and… I’ll see ya later.”, the blonde walked away, leaving behind a curious/confused Carmilla.  


 

 

***

  
  
“Do you mind… Well, you are here with _your girl_ , right? And this whole double date thing was just because we needed to get off the pressure and now that I-”  
  
Carmilla understood, what her friend wanted to imply and waved the science nerd off, “I understand. I’ve become the third wheel. You wanna be alone with Curly Sue.”  
  
“Exactly.”  
  
“Right.”, the brunette nodded and wanted to walk away, but LaFontaine held her up.  
  
“Except you wanted to talk to me about something?”  
  
Carmilla took a long breath, before sighing, “Not really.”  
  
“Everything okay with you and Laura?”  
  
“Of course.”, the dark haired girl gave the redhead a tight smile and made her way to the bumper cars. She needed to distract herself with something.  


 

 

***

  
  
“My mother’s loving the carnival.”, Will plopped down beside his stepsister on a bench.  
  
“I’m glad.”  
  
The dark haired boy nudged her with his arm, “What’s up? Don’t you usually live for stuff like this?”  
  
“Yeah, I sure do.”, the blonde sniffed and stared at the floor in front of her.  
  
“Hey, what’s wrong?”, Will gave the girl beside him his full attention.  
  
“Nothing…”, Laura groaned, “Will, you don’t have to do this… You know? Play nice with me and stuff.”  
  
“I’m not playing nice. I **am** nice, if you’d actually give me the chance to prove it to you.”  
  
“Yeah right.”, the girl laughed humorlessly, “That’s not the side I got to see last summer or generally in the months you made those gross advances towards me.”  
  
“Well had I known that you had the hots for my sister, I would have backed off. You lead me on.”  
  
“I didn’t really lead you on.”, the blonde threw him a pointed look, “I told you I wasn’t interested.”  
  
“Whatever… That’s the past.”, Will realized something, “Aren’t you supposed to be with my dear sister now? Where’s she?”  
  
“She’s with her best friend, I think.”, Laura shrugged, “Don’t really know.”  
  
  
“Erm… What’s up with you two?”  
  
“Nothing. We just… Hey Will?”, the boy nodded for her to continue, “What you said a few days ago… About me being a player. Do you think Carm thinks that too?”  
  
“I don’t know... You aren’t cheating on her, are you?”, Will said in alarm, ready to defend his sister, but the stepsister shook her head.  
  
“No, of course not. I would never- Fidelity is very important for me. That’s out of the question.”  
  
“Good, so why would she be saying those things?”  
  
“She didn’t really say it, but I let slide a comment, which I shouldn’t have and it’s all so messy now.”  
  
“God, why are girls so complicated? Like… How do two girls fare with each other? I’m not homophobic or anything, but you two seem both so stubborn- And I haven’t even seen anything.”  
  
Laura groaned, but then realized that he surprisingly was taking it pretty well, “You know… I never would have thought it, but you’re actually pretty alright.”, she stood up and cocked her head towards the candy station, “Come on, I’ll buy you cotton candy.”  
  
“Wooo is it the reward for keeping my trap shut?”, the boy asked, following his stepsister.  
  
“See it as your friend who just wants to do something nice for you.”  
  
Will smiled at her, “You’re pretty cool too, Hollis. And… I know you don’t need my consent or anything, but if it means anything to you… I really think you are very important for my sister and I like you with her.”  
  
“Oh Will…”, Laura rushed forwards and hugged him tightly, “Of course it means a lot to me.”  
  
  
  
In a corner not so far away there was Veronica observing that moment very intently, and making a decision…  


 

 

***

  
  
“Carmilla!”, Elsie waved the brunette, who was sitting by herself over.  
  
“Hey.”, the dark haired girl murmured, when approaching the blonde.  
  
“Who pissed into your drink?”  
  
“No one… Just a lot going on… How have you been? Haven’t seen you around a lot lately.”  
  
“Yeah… We had those indoor cheerleading trainings, so I mostly cut my lunches short. Ever since the thing with you and I- I just feel like I have to prove myself to my team.”  
  
Carmilla furrowed her brows, “But you know that you don’t have to let them treat you like that right? They are a bunch of stupid girls.”  
  
“Yeah, but cheerleading is what I love. It’s just another year, right?”  
  
“True.”, the dark haired girl nodded and then suddenly Elsie was dragging her along by her arm.  
  
“Come on, let’s get hot cider!”, the blonde exclaimed.  
  
  
  
“Now tell me, why you’re so pissed?”, Elsie smiled knowingly.  
  
“I’m not pissed.”  
  
“Why are you sad then?”  
  
Carmilla sighed, staring into her cup of apple cider, “Just some trouble with a friend.”  
  
“A friend, huh?”, Elsie wiggled with her eyebrows.  
  
The brunette bit her lip, “Uhm…”  
  
“Oh common, I’m so totally over you! You can talk to me. We said, we are friends, didn’t we?”  
  
“Yeah okay so it’s about this girl that I’m dating. And she’s been acting weird and distant and I just don’t understand it. We haven’t fought or anything. And she asked me, if I thought I that she is cheating on me- which I don’t at all.”  
  
“Okay…”, the blonde nodded slowly, “But have you asked her why?”  
  
Carmilla shook her head, “Tried, but she said we can talk later, but now I’m stuck with thinking the worst. I mean, what if she wants to break up with me?”  
  
“Seems like you got it bad.”, Elsie shot her a sad smile, “But hey, she’s lucky to have someone like you and maybe you should just tell her, how much you care, because obviously you do.”  
  
“Yeah… I love her.”  
  
“Woah _love_ , huh? Big words, Karnstein.”  
  
“Yeah I think it is love…”, Carmilla’s expression changed to thoughtful, “Isn’t it totally dumb? I’m sixteen, what do I know about this stuff?”  
  
“You are contradicting yourself there. Do you love her or do you just think you love her?”  
  
“No, no. I’m pretty sure I love her.”, Carmilla assured and Elsie broke into a smile.  
  
“I’m so happy that it worked out with the mystery girl. Well that you got her, I mean. But you two should probably talk.”  
  
“Yeah, I-”, the brunette couldn’t even finish the sentence, before a certain stepsister emerged from nowhere by her side and interrupted her.  
  
“Carm! I’ve been looking for you!”, Laura said -a little out of breath.  
  
“Y’have?”, the dark haired girl frowned, “Did something happen?”  
  
“No, no! Not at all- Uhm…”, she looked at Elsie and gave her a polite smile, “Hey Els! Mind if I steal away Carm?”  
  
“Hey Laura! No, we kinda finished talkin’ anyway.”  
  
“Cool!”, Laura turned to her girlfriend and tugged on her hand, “I have to talk to you about _earlier_ … Preferably somewhere, where we are alone?”, she gave the brunette a look and Carmilla nodded.  
  
“Yeah, come on…”, the dark haired girl led the way to her car.  
  
  
Elsie had eyed the interaction suspiciously, “Of course it would be Laura…”, she muttered under her breath.  


 

 

***

  
  
Will was on his way to meet some of his friends at the bumper car ride, when the principal of the school held him up.  
  
  
“William, a word?”, she gestured him to a deserted corner. He followed his mother and looked at her expectantly.  
  
“What is it?”  
  
“Would you like to tell me something?”  
  
“About?”, he was totally clueless.  
  
“You know, I was wondering, why you didn’t tell Carmilla about your new girlfriend. Or why you never brought her around either. Or why Laura was so vague, when I asked her about her boyfriend. And now I think I finally know it.”  
  
“Uhm okay?”, he furrowed his brows.  
  
“Don’t play dumb, son. I know about Laura.”  
  
He felt alarmed, “What do you know about her?”  
  
“You two play your parts very convincing. I told you to stay away from her.”, she sighed.  
  
“I don’t get it…”, he trailed off, slowly coming to understand what his mother had meant, “Oh my god are you still thinking that I am interested in her??”  
  
“No, I _know_ for a fact that you two are dating! _You_ are her secret boyfriend!”  
  
Will let slip something that he regretted immediately.  
  
  
“If you weren’t so obsessed with the idea of me fucking your stepdaughter, then you’d see that she’s gay, mother.”  
  
Both mother and son locked gazes in shock.  
  
  
  
“Oh my god... It’s Carmilla, isn’t it…?”  



	25. Stepsisters

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “God, and I thought you’d want to break up with me.”

“It’s been Carmilla all the way!”, the mother drove her hand through her hair.  
  
“I didn’t say that…”, Will trailed off, awfully aware of the fact that denying was a lost cause.  
  
“You didn’t have to.”, Veronica covered her face with the hand that was occupied with going through her hair, before addressing to her son again, “Where’s your sister?”  
  
“I- I don’t know.”  
  
“Will…”, the mother warned.  
  
“I swear, I don’t! But don’t just make her responsible, they both are in it. And to be honest, I think you’re exaggerating a little.”  
  
“Exaggerating? With what exactly?”  
  
“They really are good with each other. Why do you have to make it so complicated?”  
  
Veronica’s eyebrows shot up, “Yeah? How would you know? You don’t even get along with your own sister. Why are you advocating her choices now?”  
  
“Doesn’t matter whether or not we seem to hate each other. You are our mother, you should actually care about our happiness. And if she’s happy with Laura then-”  
  
“I can’t listen to this anymore.”, Will was left mid-sentence, when his mother walked away from him, on the search for the other half of the twin.  
  
  
“Carmilla’s gonna kill me…”, he groaned to himself and covered his face with his hands.    
  
“Fuck, and I thought my family’s screwed up…”  
  
The boy opened his eyes to see a certain guy he knew from the football team. He was grinning and just by the looks of it, Will knew he messed up twice that evening.  
  
“How much of that have you heard?”  
  
“Enough... Gotta say, Karnstein… Your sisters fucking each other really sounds hot. I mean, Carmilla’s got a nice rack and Laura’s fine as hell too…”  
  
Will was just about to raise his fist, but someone was faster. Kirsch was beside him in no time and punched him in the face.  
  
Before the guy could counter the attack, another party was intermeddling again.  
  
This time a tall redhead stood in front of the guy, who was on her eye level.  
  
“Wouldn’t think about it Jones. Or do you really wanna hit a girl?”, she raised her eyebrows and the guy finally conceded and walked backwards and away.  
  
“Thanks you guys.”, Will smiled weakly, “I gotta find my sister…”  
  
“Sure dude, uhm go…”, his best friend and his ex shared a look and then walked away in a different direction than Will.  
  
  
  
“You were sooo the man! The woman! I meant the _woman_! You saved my bacon there.”, Kirsch exclaimed, while Danny was walking beside him, clearly occupied in thoughts.  
  
“Yeah, it was nothing. You could have handled yourself.”  
  
“It wasn’t **nothing**. You’re like way tough and smokin’ hot and I just…”, he shrugged in exasperation, “I really miss you, y’know? We were always a good team. Like… You were the brains and the beauty and I was the brawn.”  
  
Danny chuckled, “We both know that I was _all of those things_ at once.”  
  
“You **are** , yeah.”, Kirsch smiled goofily.  
  
  
The redhead locked her gaze with her ex-boyfriend’s, but then remembered what had happened just a few seconds ago, “Uhm Kirsch… What you overheard about Laura-”  
  
“I totally suspected that she had the hots for angry, sexy la- _for Will’s sister_. I mean, common, they only did stuff together all the time. It really wasn’t that hard to figure out.”  
  
Danny was surprised by his state of knowledge, “Ohh…”  
  
“Plus I don’t think I’m the one they should be worried about.”, he pointed to the gushing crowd.  
  
Word traveled fast. Especially with something as juicy. If it hadn’t been the principal’s daughter, and if it hadn’t been about Laura Hollis, it wouldn’t have been such huge gossip.  
  
“Come on, we gotta find Laura and tell her.”, the tall redhead said and cocked her head towards the stands to find the blonde.  
  
  


 

***

  
  
“Carm… Where the hell is your car?”  
  
“Sorry, I didn’t wanna park somewhere and be buried in masses of snow. So I picked a spot under a tree. It’s a little further… I didn’t really think this through.”  
  
“Uhm, newsflash? There is **no** snow.”, the blonde pointed out the obvious.  
  
“But there will be. I know this weather.”, Carmilla assured.  
  
Laura just rolled her eyes, but felt relief, when the car was in sight and the brunette pressed the button on her keys to unlock the vehicle.  
  
  
Both climbed onto the backseat of the car and shared a moment of silence, before Carmilla dared to open her mouth.  
  
  
“Is this something bad?”  
  
Laura looked at her wide-eyed, “What?”  
  
Just then the blonde saw the look in the brunette’s face. She looked older than sixteen. And so small and vulnerable.  
   
“Hey?”, Laura took the other girl’s hand in hers, “It’s not anything bad. We’re okay yeah?”  
  
“Are we though?”, the dark haired girl shrugged in exasperation.  
  
“Well okay look. I realized some things- Or actually _a thing_ and I guess I got scared a little.”  
  
“Um okay…?”, the brunette nodded, looking at Laura intently.  
  
“I just want you to know that you’re really important to me.”  
  
Carmilla chuckled, “You’re important to me too. I think we covered that.”  
  
Laura reached forwards, her fingertips brushing against the other girl’s eyebrows, followed by her cheekbones and then her lips. The blonde exhaled deeply, “I’m sorry I was so weird to you. May I be excused for being simply out of my mind?”  
  
“You may.”, the brunette grinned -very toothy- and sighed in relief.  
  
Carmilla really was beautiful that way. _And so hers_ , Laura thought.  
  
It was the little things she did. Like waiting for Laura in the mornings before school, or waking up at ungodly hours (even though she had off in the first period) just to get a kiss. Then the way she was with other people that were important to her. Laura had seen it on that evening.  
  
  
“God, and I thought you’d want to break up with me. Can you imagine-”, Carmilla’s words were swallowed by a fierce, bruising kiss. It went on languidly, before the blonde broke apart.  
  
“You’re cute, when you’re worried.”, Laura chuckled.  
  
Carmilla quirked up an eyebrow, her eyes travelling down to an inviting mouth.  
  
  
Laura got an idea. She found a certain lever behind the backseat and pulled on it, to have the space combined with Carmilla’s trunk. The brunette didn’t grasp the whole situation at first.  
  
  
The blonde kissed her girlfriend shortly again, before ordering the other girl to help her with evening out the backspace of that vehicle. Carmilla welcomed a little smooching session in her car very much.  
  
  
  
  
“Have you had many girls in this backseat?”, Laura asked throatily, while busying herself with kissing the other girl -now in a lying position (good thing that Carmilla’s car was so big and both of them were rather short).  
  
“Uhm, not _that_ many. Just made out with a few here.”, Carmilla replied, still very much invested in the hot make out session in her car.  
  
The blonde stopped their lip-lock to look into the dark orbs that were staring right back at her with a hint of confusion.  
  
“Have you had sex in here?”  
  
The dark haired girl gulped, “No.”  
  
“Good.”, Laura replied, before lowering herself onto the other girl again, and kissing her senseless. Her hand traveled from where it was resting beside Carmilla’s face to grab the brunette’s left hand and intertwining their fingers. “So, _this_ is mine?”, the blonde whispered against awaiting lips. Her head dipped and she mapped out a trail from the brunette’s earlobe to the spot under her jaw with her lips.  
  
“All of this, yes.”, Carmilla answered (although she had a hard time doing so) and twirled a strand of blonde hair between her fingers.  
  
“Good.”, Laura shrugged off her thick jacket and bunched it up, and gestured for Carmilla to lift her head. After the brunette did, what was asked of her, the jacket was placed beneath her head, functioning as a sort of pillow. Then she made sure that the car was locked and that no one was around, before getting rid of her sweater and undershirt in one go.  
  
  
“What are you doing?”, Carmilla asked wide-eyed.  
  
“Making sure that you know that all of _this_ …”, the blonde emphasized it with driving her own, and Carmilla’s hand that she took, over her bare skin, “Belongs to you too. **Only you**.”  
  
“Laura…”, the brunette’s voice wavered, “If this is about what I said… I’m sorry for-”  
  
“Shut up.”, Laura whispered, as she busied herself with taking off her girlfriend’s clothes. One by one, until her torso was completely naked. The blonde kissed along all that newly exposed skin, touching with deep intensity and purpose. Carmilla’s heavy breathing spurred her on to go even further.  
    
While the blonde’s mouth was busy with sucking in a hardened nipple (the temperature only being a secondary factor to its state), her hand found the button on the other girl’s pants and made work in shedding the piece of clothing quickly, along with her socks and boots of course.  
  
Carmilla wanted to lean up, and touch the other girl, but she was denied, when Laura made it very clear that she should only lie there and follow her lead.  
  
The blonde kissed up the body, halting on a particularly sensitive spot right below her girlfriend’s breasts, to give it a little bit more attention. Carmilla tangled her hands in blonde locks, her barely covered body now starting to feel heated, although the car wasn’t warm at all.  
  
When Laura came up, to claim her lips again, Carmilla finally got aware of how clothed Laura still was. She tugged desperately on the obstructing jeans the blonde still was wearing.  
  
Laura got the message without having to hear it in words and with a little shifting around, she was in her underwear and kissing Carmilla passionately again, fingers stroking up the brunette’s sensitive sides, nails dragging into warm skin, a tongue exploring everything it got in touch with.  
  
  
Suddenly the blonde leaned back enough to be able to look the other girl in the eyes. She studied Carmilla for a long time before resting her forehead on the other girl’s.  
  
  
“Can you do something for me?”, Laura asked in a whisper.  
  
“Anything.”, the dark haired girl replied, while stroking up her girlfriend’s arms.  
  
“Touch yourself.”  
  
  
The brunette stopped in her movements, her expression a little surprised or even shocked.  
  
“What…?”, she croaked. (Carmilla seriously thought she misheard her girlfriend there.)  
  
“I want you to touch yourself.”, Laura repeated her request again, but when she was met with silence, she backtracked, “Oh my god, I’m so sorry- I didn’t- I mean- That probably was too much for you-”  
  
“Stop! No, it wasn’t.”, the brunette shook her head and brought the other girl’s face down to meet her lips, “This. Is. So. Fucking. Hot.”  
  
They locked eyes and both acknowledged each other’s dilated pupils.  
  
Laura took Carmilla’s right hand in hers, kissed the knuckles, and guided her underneath the only piece of clothing the brunette still was wearing. The blonde bit her bottom lip, when she heard the other girl moaning out loud, because her own hand met the wetness between her legs.  
  
While Carmilla was busy circling her own clit, Laura’s head dipped down, meeting heated skin and sucking marks on her chest. She didn’t care in that moment, _if_ _anyone_ or _who_ would be able to see them. It was a sort of payback and also it made her feel like Carmilla belonged to her. Even though she knew theoretically, she needed that.  
  
  
“Fuck yourself.”, the blonde ordered. The dark haired girl couldn’t contain herself anymore, her breathing got more irregular and her eyes fluttered shut, her brows furrowed in concentration, when she complied.  
  
Laura wasn’t too happy with that, “I want you to look at me while doing so.”  
  
Carmilla’s eyes opened again and her brows met her hairline. _She looked so good_ , Laura thought, while studying all the tiny changes of expression in Carmilla’s face. Or the way her lips parted and how her bottom lip quivered.  
  
“Describe what you feel.”, the blonde said, while positioning herself beside her girlfriend and running her fingertips gingerly through the valley of Carmilla’s breasts and down towards her navel.  
  
“Wha- What do you want me to say?”, the brunette had a hard time forming coherent sentences and it brought out a devilish smirk on Laura’s face.  
  
The blonde squinted her eyes, “Are you wet for me, Carmilla?”  
  
There were only few occasions, when Laura would use the brunette’s full name. Usually it meant that they were fighting or having a serious talk. This was something else completely.  
  
“Yes.”  
  
The blonde tucked away that fact silently in her mind. Her fingers were now slightly walking over Carmilla’s forearm.  
  
“I was wondering…”, Laura suddenly sat up and freed the dark haired girl from her soaked underwear. (Finally.)  
  
  
“What were you wondering?”, Carmilla never averted her gaze from the other girl’s eyes, and never stopped her movements.  
  
The blonde chuckled darkly, “Have you ever thought of me?”, Laura hovered just above Carmilla’s nether regions, observing the brunette’s doings to herself, “You know… When _I wasn’t yours_? When you couldn’t have me like _this_?”  
  
When the answer didn’t come, Laura looked up to be met with dark eyes. Carmilla swallowed thickly.  
  
“Yes.”  
  
Laura hummed and quirked up an eyebrow, “Was it anything like this?”  
  
The blonde drove her hand through her hair, flipping it to one side and lowered herself down to kiss along Carmilla’s thighs. The dark haired girl’s body tensed and she drew in a deep breath.  
  
“Laura…”  
  
“Did you imagine me doing this…?”, Laura’s hands glided over her girlfriend’s sides, she bit into Carmilla’s left hipbone. The brunette squirmed underneath her.  
  
“Laura.”, Carmilla tried once more, “I’m close.”  
  
Of course the blonde wouldn’t give that victory to her girlfriend. “We can’t have that, now can we?”, she took Carmilla’s right hand in hers and sucked the fingers clean, never looking away from the dark eyes that seemed to observe all her actions now.  
  
“For fuck’s sake, Laura…”  
  
Carmilla didn’t have to beg twice. The blonde entered her almost immediately and placed her thumb, where the brunette’s fingers had been just some minutes ago.  
  
It really didn’t take Carmilla that long to come undone.  
  
  
  
  
Laura _really, really_ hoped that noone had seen that little escalation, but was relieved, when she remembered that Carmilla’s windows were tinted and it was dark out with a raging snow storm -which made her think again. The winter carnival!  
  
  
“It’s snowing and I’m organizing a school event and I’m not even there! Fuck!”, the blonde exclaimed, searching for her top and putting it on in a hurry.  
  
“Again?”, Carmilla chuckled, and got up and pulled her girlfriend in, “Don’t worry those lackwits can do it without you. It’s just snow. They can figure how to handle it. You were prepared for that, remember?”  
  
That seemed to do the trick. Laura still slipped on her jeans though, but then settled in Carmilla’s arms again. Her index drew unknown patterns into her girlfriend’s abdomen. She listened to the brunette’s heartbeat. Everything was perfect. She wanted this to last forever.  
  
One of those teenage clichés again.  
  
  
  
“I love you.”, the blonde said it without thinking about it. She heard the deep intake of air and lifted her head cautiously to be able to read Carmilla’s expression.  
  
Laura had expected the worst, but then the dark haired girl rushed forwards and caught her lips in a swift kiss, “You do?”  
  
“Uh- Yeah. Yeah, I do.”, the blonde giggled, when Carmilla took her face into her hands, cradling her head like it was something precious.  
  
“‘Cause I do too, y’know? _Love you_ , I mean.”  
  
The smile that took over Laura’s face was magnificent. The sun could be easily put to a shame with a glow like this, Carmilla thought.  
  
  
“Amazeballs.”, the blonde said with squinted eyes, maintaining her _‘cool’_ , but failed miserably, when she couldn’t contain her laughter.  
  
“You’re such a goof.”  
  
“But you love me!”, Laura had this fake smug look on her and Carmilla had to give that one to her.  
  
The brunette tilted her head a little and nodded. She was sure she’d never smiled this broadly. Laura - _freaking_ \- Hollis had just professed her love for her.  
  
  
  
“Soooo…?”, Carmilla nudged Laura’s head away from on top of her chest, to be able to look at her, “What was that earlier?”  
  
“Never wanted to have sex in your car?”  
  
“No- I- I did, but uhm that was- _You know_ …”  
  
Laura furrowed her eyebrows, a hint of smile splaying on her lips, “Do go on.”, she urged.  
  
“I like this side of you.”, Carmilla shrugged.  
  
The blonde -being happy with the answer- got back to her position.  
  
“I think what you meant to say is **love**. _You love this side of me._ ”  
  
  


 

***

  
  
  
When Carmilla entered the carnival for a second time (of course making sure that Laura had a head start and went in 5 minutes before her), she was much more relaxed and content. She drove her hand through her dark mane, trying to untangle some knots.  
  
  
  
“God, I’ve been looking _everywhere_ for you!”, Will approached his twin and looked her over suspiciously. She seemed cheerful enough for the fact that she was semi-fighting with Laura. (Girls, go figure.)  
  
“Whatever it is, please just for now let me be. I’m really super happy right now and I can see on your face that it is something bad-” (The brunette couldn’t even imagine how bad it really was.)  
  
Will huffed out, “Mom knows.”  
  
Carmilla looked at him in confusion, “Say what now?”  
  
“Mom. She knows about you and Laura.”, Will repeated again, in a calm and steady voice.  
  
The brunette shook her head, finally catching on the stares everyone was giving her, “What?! Did you tell her?! You rat- You-”  
  
“I didn’t! I swear, she figured out on her own, when I told her that Laura was into girls-”  
  
Carmilla’s eyes widened, “Why the fuck would you even do that?!”  
  
Her twin sighed, “Because she thought I was with your girlfriend and I just hated the fact that mom still thought I’m onto her, when I’m not-”, he saw his sister’s look, “ _I swear, I’m **not**._ ”  
  
The dark haired girl shook her head, “You know what? Whatever…”, Carmilla still found it weird that everyone was staring at her, “I have to find her and warn her… Or something…”, she was just about to walk away, when her twin held her up.  
  
  
“There’s something else.”, Will swallowed, before looking at the crowd, “Everyone knows.”  
  
Carmilla looked around herself, this time most of the people were looking away, pretending to not pay attention, “Fucking great.”  
  
  
  
**Carm** (9:43pm): Where are you?  
  
**TheCreampuff** (9:59pm): sorry I forgot to let you know I was driving Perry and Laf home. but I’m totally coming back soon!  
  
**Carm** (9:59pm): Don’t. Meet me at home, but don’t go inside, if my mom’s home.  
  
**TheCreampuff** (10:05pm): wth????  
**TheCreampuff** (10:05pm): just dropped them both off, what’s up?  
  
**Carm** (10:06pm): Drive straight back home. I’m going there now too.  
  
**TheCreampuff** (10:06): ok?  
  
  


 

***

  
  
  
Laura put her car into park and got out. It was cold outside so she hugged herself to get warmer, while waiting on her stepsister to arrive. Carmilla’s behavior was beyond odd, but the blonde didn’t question it. When Carmilla was serious about something, she knew, she had to listen to her.  
  
  
“What are you doing back so early?”, a voice startled her.  
  
“Ohhh… Hey there…”, the blonde chuckled nervously, seeing her stepmother approach her (the words _‘don’t go inside, if my mom’s home’_ were still in the back of her mind), “I uh- Was tired and I wasn’t needed at the carnival anymore.”  
  
“Why are you standing outside? Come in.”  
  
“I was waiting for someone.”  
  
Veronica quirked up an eyebrow, “In our driveway? Who?”  
  
“Uhm…”, there was no way out now, “Well, Carm borrowed that one scarf from me and I kinda wanted it back sooo…”  
  
  
_Lamest excuse ever!_  
  
  
“Oh drop the act already!”  
  
The blonde frowned, “Excuse me?”  
  
Laura’s stepmother sighed, “I know about your _secret relationship_ with **my daughter**.”  
  
The girl felt like fainting, hearing those words.  
  
“Fuck.”, the blonde remembered that she was still talking to her principal -she felt like she couldn’t really count on their weird new family status in that moment, “I mean, **not** _fuck_. More like…”  
  
“More like what the hell were you two thinking?!”  
  
Laura closed her eyes, tightly, hoping for anything in that moment.  
  
  
“Wait, until your father hears from this.”, Veronica threatened and something in the blonde clicked.  
  
“You can’t- He doesn’t know-”  
  
“He doesn’t know what? That you’re with **my daughter**?”  
  
It was ** _her_ **_daughter_ now. There was a clear separation between Carmilla and Laura.  
  
  
“That I’m into girls.”  
  
Veronica looked at her in surprise for a second, before it was replaced by anger, “It’s time he knows, don’t you think?”  
  
Laura always had wanted her father to know, but not like this. She wanted it to happen on her terms and seeing this didn’t lead to anything, she quickly turned it around.  
  
  
“I’ll break up with her. Right now. She’s coming home in a few minutes and I’ll do it right here, right now. Just please don’t tell him.”, she begged of her stepmother and the woman seriously accepted.  
  
  
“I will keep an eye out for you two.”, Veronica said on her way into the house again.  
  
  
Laura broke down, her knees hitting the soft snow that covered their front yard. Her whole body was shaking, her tears were obscuring her view, so badly that she missed the lights that approached her from behind and then there was this voice...  
  
  
“Laura… What happened?”, she felt two strong arms pulling her up and cradling her face, wiping away her tears. She couldn’t stop crying. It was too much.  
  
“God, your pants are soaked through. How long have you been sitting in the snow?”, Carmilla wrapped her up in her arms and stroked her girlfriend’s back in a soothing manner.  
  
“I love you.”, the blonde blurted out. Carmilla leaned back and frowned.  
  
“I know, I love you too…?”  
  
  
Laura shook her head, “Your mother knows.”  
  
“I know… Will told me, but we can- We can fix this, right? We’ll just tell her _our_ side of the story.”  
  
  
“ **No.** ”, the blonde stepped further away from her girlfriend, who was tempted to trap that girl in a corner and never let her go, because it felt like she was gliding away, the sun was retreating behind thick clouds and she just couldn’t…  
  
  
“We have to break up.”  
  
  
There were tears streaming down Carmilla’s face now, and all she could see was darkness, when Laura stepped away from her eyesight and into the house.  
  
  
_And sometimes the sun’s rays failed to illuminate the moon..._


	26. Broken

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Are you happy with your decision?”

“Carmilla, come here!”, Veronica called over her daughter, once she hurried into the house after Laura.  
  
The young girl didn’t listen to her mother though, and ran up the stairs and into her room, locking it, so no one could enter. Her head was pounding. There was an excessive amount of tears streaming down her face.  
  
_Unnecessarily._  
  
This wasn’t something worth bawling out one’s eyes for, she told herself. She was strong. Carmilla was cold as stone.  
  
  
And stone wasn’t supposed to love.  
  
How on the earth did she get herself into that situation then?  
  
Why did she think it would have been a good idea to fall in love with Laura Hollis?  
  
  
_What was I thinking?_  
  
  
  
“Carm…?”, she heard a muffled voice at her bathroom door.  
  
The dark haired girl didn’t dare to enter. She just stood there, forehead meeting the cold, hard wood. Leaning onto the surface, so she wouldn’t lose footing, and to be as close to the other girl and in the same time as far away as she could be.  
  
That was the barrier between them now.  
  
“I guess you don’t really wanna talk… Which is fine, ‘cause like only _I_ need to tell you things… I never meant to be so harsh… I only- I was desperate and I know, I should have handled it better…”, there was a pause.  
  
Carmilla could tell that Laura was crying too. There she was conflicted again. She’d love to wrap the blonde up in her arms, but simultaneously she wanted to crush her, hurt her like Laura did to her.  
  
She wanted her to suffer.  
  
Was that what love did to you? Make you a bad person?  
  
“Your mom threatened to tell my dad and I know it’s a coward move of me to not stand by your side, but I- I want him to know under my terms and I need you to understand. I need you to know that it has nothing to do with you. You were great. You **are** great. And I mean, I fell for you… But maybe it’s just the timing that isn’t right. Maybe once my dad knows, we can-”  
  
Laura stopped talking, because she heard something fly across Carmilla’s bedroom. Something fragile apparently.  
  
“I guess you don’t wanna talk about that right now… Which is fine. I get it. Just know that I really didn’t mean for that to happen like this…”  
  
The blonde was tempted to walk into the bedroom and look at Carmilla. Maybe look at her like _that_ once again, because the brunette needed to know, how precious she was.  
  
However she refrained. Some space would be enough, she hoped.  
  
Maybe all of that would cure itself away once time passed.  


 

***

  
  
Carmilla woke up on the first Saturday of her break with a headache. She’d cried too much. And she never cried. The last time she did that was the day her father vanished from her life. The brunette’d never cried this much since then.  
  
There was a shower going off in the bathroom next to her. Her heart threatened to leap out of her throat. She couldn’t be there anymore. Carmilla couldn’t just lie there and let the world pass. She needed to get out.  
  
  
  
“Where are you going?”, Veronica asked her daughter, who was trying to be stealth and failed miserably in it.  
  
“Out.”  
  
“Out where? It’s 9 in the morning. You’re never awake before 12 on your off days.”  
  
Carmilla turned around and threw her mother a cold stare, “Sometimes _not even I_ can sleep.”  
  
Her mother let her go, without another word. It hurt her to see her daughter in such a state. And she was the causer of that pain.  
  
What kind of mother did that make her?  


  
**Gingersnap** (10:32am): I heard what happened at the carnival.  
**Gingersnap** (10:32am): Can I do anything for you guys?  
**Gingersnap** (10:33am): Are you and Laura okay?  
  
  
The dark haired girl looked at her phone for several seconds, before deciding to ignore the texts. She was sitting on the hood of her car (in the freaking cold) and playing with the zippo lighter in her hand, trying to understand how the hell she had lost everything she had gained the day before.  


 

***

  
  
“Where’s Carmilla?”, Greg wanted to know, when he noticed the empty seat on the breakfast table.  
  
Will threw Laura a sympathetic smile, who looked like someone had stolen her beloved puppy.  
  
“She didn’t feel well.”, Veronica responded to her husband’s question, “She went out.”  
  
“Carm’s not even home?”, the moment the question popped up, Laura wanted to be able to vanish. Her stepmother looked at her with an risen eyebrow. The blonde now knew, where Carmilla had learnt that look from.  
  
“Did I miss anything here?”, Greg asked, while looking at the two women on the table.  
  
“No. Nothing, Greg.”  
  
“Yep. Nothing dad. Did you still want to go out for dinner today?”, Laura asked her parent, who smiled at her.  
  
“Yes of course. I cleared the calendar for my little girl!”  
  
The blonde gave him a small smile and returned to her food.  
  
  
  
  
“Laura…”, Will walked up beside his stepsister, when they made their ways up the stairs to both of their rooms after breakfast.  
  
“Yeah?”  
  
“I’m so sorry. I was the reason my mother found out… And all the others…”  
  
The blonde stopped on the top stairs and turned around, “What? What others?”  
  
“I said something stupid to my mother and some people were listening in and-”  
  
“The whole fucking school knows about us?!”  
  
Will clenched his eyes shut, “Yeah… I’m so sorry. I never wanted this to happen this way. Your secret was safe with me, I swear…”  
  
“It’s okay.”, Laura said and exhaled deeply. At least there were two weeks of vacation, “They gonna forget it sooner or later right?”  
  
That the whole school knew didn’t even scare her. However word would spread fast and now Laura knew, that she had to tell her father.  
  
Something she wanted to evade only a few hours ago, but now she was determined. Maybe she could fix this whole mess, if she were just honest...  
  


 

***

  
  
_I’m worried for you. Please get back at me when you get this. I need to talk to you._  
  
  
Laura huffed out and deleted the message she had typed in for her stepsister. She had no right. They way she had broken Carmilla’s heart was almost beyond repair, and she knew it. Who did that? Who broke up with someone, seconds after telling them that they loved that person?

The blonde sat on her windowsill, remembering all the times she’d been sitting there with the dark haired girl.  
  
She’d felt like someone cut a hole in her body, when she had to utter those words.  
  
  
_I love you._ _We have to break up._  
  
  
There were many things that went through Laura’s head. Many things she’d like to be able to tell Carmilla.  
  
  
_I feel like shit, please call and say you’re ok. I’m worried._  
  
_Where are you? Do you need company?_  
  
_Carmilla, please be safe._  
  
_I love you._  
  
  
She didn’t send any of those preformed thoughts to the brunette’s number.  
  
Instead she tried to occupy herself with sorting through some pictures that she had received from the photography department of the Silas High media team. Work always had helped her with those things, except she knew that she’d never felt that bad/sad/whatever.  
  
She didn’t have any reference level for sadness up until that point.  
  
Laura was sure that for her seventeen years she could also be held accountable for being a little over-dramatic, but that’s what she felt. Any occurring thought was formed into something that contained the girl that she had shared a bathroom with for the last seven months.  
  
The blonde went through five pictures a second, not really being able to concentrate on the task of sorting out the best ones to send to the local paper (she had raised awareness for her work for the school) and they wanted to write a short piece on the winter carnival.  
  
  
Suddenly a familiar face popped up.  
  
Laura stopped with clicking the right arrow on her laptop and studied the picture.  
  
It was one of Carmilla and Elsie while they were drinking some hot beverage. The brunette looked upset and the blonde smiled into the camera.  
  
  
Why did Carmilla have to look good, even in a moment she wasn’t very cheerful?  
  
Laura groaned, looking at the picture of her mother by her desk and shaking her head, “God why aren’t you here? If you were, this wouldn’t be such a mess. Dad never would have married Carm’s mom and we…”  
  
The blonde thought about the rest of the sentence.  
  
What would they have done? She tried to imagine how life would have been, if her mother hadn’t died. Would she have felt comfortable enough to tell her parents about her sexuality? Would she have been out by then? Would she have ever been with Carmilla, if she wouldn’t have been forced to live with her?  
  
Those questions were too much for her. She shut her laptop and leaned her head into her arms that were propped up on her desk and sighed loudly.  
  
  
“Is everything alright?”, Greg walked into Laura’s room that was open. (Maybe she did it to see/hear, if and when the brunette would come back.)  
  
“Yeah, I’m fine.”  
  
“Because Veronica mentioned something with Carmilla.”  
  
Laura rolled her eyes, “I’m sure she did.”  
  
“Are you having trouble with her again? I thought you two were good friends now?”, Greg was sweet, with his obliviousness. Yep. She totally got that one from him.  
  
“No dad. It was just a little misunderstanding. Everything’s gonna cool down eventually.”, she really hated lying to him. Especially about this. But she was going to tell him.  
  
_Tonight._  
  
The father hummed, “Well. Tonight, we are gonna celebrate your good grades with some good food, and you’re gonna forget about your little troubles in no time! Can you be ready by six?”  
  
“Yeah sure dad.”, she gave Greg a forced smile and he approached her to envelop her in a hug. She breathed in his cologne. And imprinted the feeling of his strong arms into her mind -it was so similar to…  
  
  
“I love you sweetheart, you know that, right?”  
  
“Yeah, love you too.”  
  
_Tonight._  


 

***

  
  
“Do I need to slap her face?”, LaF asked their best friend, while handing her a cup of warm tea.  
  
The weather outside got worse than the day before and Carmilla had been sitting in her unheated car for a long time, before the redhead had found her through coincidence. They of course dragged her along to their place (or rather let her drive them both there).  
  
“No. I get it. She doesn’t want daddy dearest to know and I respect that.”, Carmilla sighed.  
  
She actually didn’t understand. Not in the core. She understood the rational part of it, but it didn’t want to get into her head.  
  
LaFontaine squinted their eyes, “And you believe that?”  
  
“Believe what?”  
  
“That it’s only about her dad? Don’t you think she just took the easy way out, because it was convenient enough that your mom pressured her?”  
  
“I don’t know what to believe. I actually would like to delete yesterday out of my repertoire. It was a confusing day.”  
  
LaF nodded thoughtfully, “Yeah you guys were weird all day.”  
  
“Yeah and then she professes her love for me and two minutes later she’s breaking up.”, Carmilla snorted, “Can you believe that? The day _you_ finally get the girl, I lose mine.”  
  
The redhead laughed along, finding it surreal, “Yeah has that ever happened in history?”  
  
Carmilla’s laughter got louder, “Which one? You having a girl or me having my heart torn out by one? Because we had that last one already. It never ends well, does it?”  
  
LaF stopped immediately, looking at their best friend in sympathy, “I’m sorry. That’s not funny actually.”  
  
“No, it is fucking funny. It is a fucking great joke.”, the brunette let out rather bitterly.  
  
  
“Come on, I’ll tell my mom to make a little bit more of that pasta that you like so much. You can eat here, if you want.”, LaF said and wanted to go downstairs, but Carmilla held them back. They threw her a confused glare.  
  
“Thanks. You’re a good bud, y’know?”  
  
“Of course. You’re always here for me too.”, they smiled.  
  
“Blergh. We have to wash our mouths. Being in love makes us so…”, the dark haired girl was looking for the right adjective.  
  
“Revolting?”, the science nerd offered with a laugh.  
  
“Yeah, exactly that.”  


 

***

 

Laura was smoothing out her clothes that she had picked out for the date with her father at the restaurant, when she saw out of the corner of her eye that her stepsister was entering the bedroom across from hers.  
  
It ached.  
  
Every little interaction they had -or lacked, to be precise- ached.  
  
It hurt that Laura wasn’t allowed to kiss her anymore. It was painful for the blonde that Carmilla ignored her so blatantly. She obviously did deserve it, but it was hurtful nonetheless.  
  
However the most painful thing was the fact that Carmilla was apparently shutting everything and everyone out. Laura had done that to her.  
  
If she just would be honest with her father, like she had planned, maybe everything would play out. Veronica wouldn’t have anything against her, nothing to threaten her with. Nothing that would keep them apart. They would have to warm up their parents to that thought, but maybe it would/could work…  
  
  
  
The blonde took up all her courage and knocked on the bedroom door of her stepsister.  
  
Of course Carmilla didn’t answer, so Laura just walked in and found the dark haired girl by her window, looking at the sun ready to go down.  
  
  
Laura closed the door behind herself, taking a deep breath and approached the other girl. The brunette still hadn’t realized that she was there. It was probably the fact that she was listening to loud raging music (so Laura thought).  
  
  
“What are you doing here?”, suddenly Carmilla spoke, never averting her gaze, but at least she apparently turned off her music and put away her earbuds.  
  
“I wanted to know if you were okay.”  
  
Carmilla scoffed and turned around, her eyebrows up in surprise and her lips curled into a smirk, “Is that so now, hmn?”  
  
She was distant.  
  
“Uh, yeah. But you seem fine… So…”, the blonde trailed off, but then she remembered, _courage_ , “No, actually… No. You seem like shit, and I know that, because I also feel like shit and I just… I don’t want this to be like this. I don’t want us to fight. I don’t want us to be strangers to each other. I don’t wanna go back to the way we were before we… Were _anything._ ”  
  
“What do you want me to say, Laura?”, for the first time Carmilla was showing her feelings. Her shoulders were sagging, she was tired. Probably due to the lack of sleep. There was a hint of desperation in her voice.  
  
“I don’t know okay? I don’t-”, the blonde just wanted to feel normal again.  
  
Without feeling like she was lying to her father, without feeling like she was going behind her stepmother’s back.  
  
“Fuck, why is this so hard?”, Laura asked herself, cutting off her own thoughts.  
  
“Are you happy with your decision?”, Carmilla wanted to know, not even responding to the uttered question.  
  
“What do you think?”  
  
  
The brunette sat down on the edge of her bed, Laura surprisingly following her and sitting across from her, in a cross-legged position.  
  
  
“I wouldn’t ask you, if I knew, would I?”  
  
“And I already told you I am feeling like shit.”, the blonde awaited something, anything, but when nothing came, she dared to touch the other girl’s hand. She even went as far as securing it with both of her hands in her lap, and contemplated on her thoughts.  
  
“Why does it have to be this way then?”, Carmilla asked. She didn’t retreat her hand, which made Laura feel a little more confident.  
  
“Do you think your mother would ever be okay with us being together?”  
  
The dark haired girl shrugged, “Does it matter? I mean, we were so afraid of her knowing, but in the end she wouldn’t really be able to forbid us seeing each other. The only thing that was keeping us apart was your dad.”  
  
Laura got alert, “ _ **Was?**_ ”  
  
“Well yeah.”, Carmilla finally drew her hand back, “You broke up with me. It’s not an issue anymore.”  
  
Well _that_ stung.  
  
The blonde exhaled deeply, “And what would happen if I decided to tell him?”  
  
This time it was the brunette’s turn to look at the other girl in surprise, “Why would you even do that?”  
  
“Because what I said and did yesterday was in such a hurry and it was rash and in a moment of weakness and I have been thinking about that this whole time and- I don’t wanna be without you. I must sound so immature right now, and I know, we’ve been only dating for two months, and I have no idea how this is gonna progress or if I am making a huge mistake, but I would like to try it out, you know?”  
  
“So what are you saying?”, Carmilla asked, while scooting closer to the girl she loved. Her heart was hammering out of her chest.  
  
“I’m gonna go to dinner with my dad tonight, and I think I’m gonna tell him today.”  
  
“About us?”  
  
“No about climate change.”, Laura rolled her eyes, “Of course about **us**!”  
  
“Are you sure?”, the brunette asked with a hint of trepidation.  
  
The blonde gave her a small smile, “Yeah. I mean, Will told me that everyone knows… So it really is just a stretch until _really everyone_ -including my dad- knows and I want him to hear it from me first and…”  
  
“And?”, Carmilla urged.  
  
“And I wanna tell him, because I want him to know that I have fallen for you.”, Laura paused, before continuing, “And maybe I could revoke everything I said yesterday in the process? I mean, I know you will need time to forgive me, but I am willing to wait for that.”  
  
Carmilla shook her head, “Don’t be ridiculous, I wouldn’t wanna wait... But... What about my mother?”  
  
Laura huffed out, “What? Are _you_ gonna be the obstacle now?”  
  
Carmilla chuckled, “No, really not. Just checking. We will need a lot of patience with my mother... But I’m glad that for once you came up with something useful.”, the brunette grinned afterwards.  
  
And that was everything the blonde needed. Her heart was beating out of her chest, because the girl opposite to her was so, so beautiful, when she dared to smile so fully. It was very rare and therefore Laura cherished it.  
  
“Wow. That was easier than I thought.”  
  
“Uhm, figures. You are the complicated one of us both.”, Laura rolled her eyes on that one and almost was about to lean in, to kiss Carmilla-  
  
  
“Laura?”, Greg knocked on Carmilla’s bedroom door, and the blonde stood up abruptly, turning to the door, where her father was entering, with a smile plastered to his face, “So I was right about hearing your voice here. Are you ready?”  
  
The blonde took one last look at her (hopefully again-she totally should have asked that) girlfriend, and stepped to her parent.  
  
“Super ready, just gotta grab my coat.”  
  
  
  
  
“So are you and Carmilla okay again?”, Greg asked, once both were sitting in the car, shielded from the winter weather and ready to drive to the restaurant.  
  
“Yeah. I think we’re better again.”, Laura smiled. She just hoped it would stay this way. She hoped she would find enough courage to tell her parent about her relationship with her stepsister and she hoped that Veronica wouldn’t be there to ruin it, every chance she got, but learn to live with it.  
  


 

***

  
  
Carmilla was sitting on the living room couch with her brother, zapping through the channels on their TV.  
  
  
“Are you gonna ignore me forever?”, Will asked his twin.  
  
“We’ve been ignoring each other for some years now, why are you so whiney about it?”, the brunette rolled her eyes, but found her brother’s sentiment sweet. Plus ever since the talk she had with Laura, her mood was lighter (a **lot** lighter). Seemed like sometimes things solved themselves. It never had been that easy actually. Break up? Carmilla couldn’t even remember that that happened (she totally could, but she filled those memories with the ones of Laura telling her that she was worthy enough to come out to her parent- even though it was because of the given circumstance).  
  
“Because you’re finally a little bit more approachable ever since you and Laura have started something.”  
  
“Yeah you have too, ever since you’ve met dream girl. What’s up with her? When do I finally meet her?”  
  
Will chuckled, “Everything in due time. You can scare the shit out of people sometimes.”  
  
“Me? I am your younger sister, who couldn’t even hurt a fly.”  
  
“You sure as hell don’t look like it.”  
  
“You’re an ass.”, Carmilla replied while shoving her brother further away from her.  
  
  
“Are you and Laura okay though? I really feel bad for everything I caused.”  
  
The girl shrugged, “It would have eventually happened I guess. We broke up over it. Now we are most probably getting back together again, because she is telling Greg tonight, sooo... I cannot complain.”  
  
  
“She’s what?”, Veronica was behind the twins all of a sudden, both turned around to face her.  
  
  
Carmilla rolled her eyes, “Why? Are you gonna go there now and threaten her again?”  
  
“I didn’t threaten her- I left her with a choice. I wanted to see, how serious you two were. The way she acted, like she could dismiss you easily, made me think I did the right thing…”, the mother trailed off.  
  
“Yeah? Have you not seen her crying? Have you not noticed me crying? What on earth made you think that it was an easy choice for her to make? You took advantage of the fact that she was scared of her own father rejecting her.”  
  
“Carmilla, I didn’t know-”  
  
Said girl shook her head, because there was a phone buzzing in her pocket, “Excuse me…”, she said before picking up on an unknown number (everything was better than having to hear her mother make her self-righteous excuses), “Hello, who is this?”  
  
“Carmilla, don’t you dare ignoring-”  
  
“Shhhh, it’s about Greg and Laura!”, the dark haired girl said with wide eyes, “Yeah, yeah please tell me which hospital…”  
  
  
Veronica and Will were both over alert now, and looked at Carmilla in anticipation.  
  
  
“What’s up?”, the boy dared to ask.  
  
“Greg slipped with his car or something… There has been an accident… They are in the Metro hospital…”  
  
  
“You both get your coats, I’m driving.”, Will announced, because clearly he was the one with the calmest mind.


	27. Honesty

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “This is ludicrous.”

They were in-between courses, Greg just had finished his main one and now it felt like there was a staring contest going on between father and daughter. It all had begun with the fact that Laura apparently couldn’t wait for a good timing and just blurted out the words.  
  
_I’m sorta, kinda dating a girl -or at least I was until yesterday, but I totally think we are dating again- and your wife found out and by the way also the whole town probably knows that I’m gay._  
  
  
The man blinked once and shook his head slightly, “What?”  
  
“I’m a lesbian. Totes gay.”, Laura looked at her father with an terrified expression.  
  
_Ohmigod, who comes out to their parents like that?!_  
  
“Wait… Wait…”, Greg scratched his forehead, “You- You were with that football player last year. Ray? Rob?”  
  
The blonde chuckled, “ **Rick.** Yeah… Carm kinda said the same thing when I came out to her.”  
  
Obviously the man needed some time to comprehend the said things.  
  
“Wait, so all this time you have been dating girls?”  
  
“Well no, I uhm…”, Laura inhaled deeply, not really knowing where this was headed, “I kinda know since last year…”  
  
“So why didn’t you ever tell me?”  
  
“Because… Because you’re all I’m left with and I didn’t want to lose you. I didn’t want you to view me as someone else, when I’m still the same Laura you’ve raised.”  
  
“Did it ever occur to you that I would never have thought about it that way? Of course you still are my Laura. And of course I will love you no matter what.”  
  
Laura nodded slowly, “So you are totally cool with it?”  
  
“Yeah. I think that’s great actually. I don’t trust those teenage boys anyway. But… You’re sure, right?”  
  
“Well yeah. A hundred percent.”  
  
She couldn’t really say _‘Yeah dad, I slept with a bunch of people and 90 percent of them were girls, so I think I’m hella gay!’._  
  
“And can I meet that girl you were talking about?”  
  
“Yeah… I think you’ll meet her soon enough.”, the blonde chuckled nervously and took a sip of her water. Uhh, water was so… Liquid and soothing.  
  
Greg smiled sweetly at his daughter, “I’m proud of you… This was good, right? The honest talk?”  
  
“Yeah. Real good.”  
  
  
_Crap._  
  
  
She had about two more hours to tell her father that it was his stepdaughter that she was dating.  


 

***  
  


“I’m glad that we’re on better terms again, sweetheart.”, Greg was starting his car and drove out of the parking spot.

“I’m dating Carmilla!”

“ **WHAT?** ”

The car came to a halt abruptly, and the driver behind them was too slow to react. Laura, preoccupied with her thoughts of course, had forgotten to fasten her seat belt and her body (mostly her left arm) collided with the car interior to her front.

“Oh my god! Are you hurt? Why haven’t you put on a seatbelt?!”, Greg said with wide eyes.

“I’m okay-”

The driver of the other car was already at Laura’s side and knocked on the window.

“Everyone okay?”, is all both could hear from inside the car.

“I’m fine really-”

“Call an ambulance!”, the father exclaimed.

 

 

***  
  


“Who did you talk to? What did they say?”, Veronica asked her daughter, while they were rushing to the hospital.

“I don’t know… Some paramedic or something. I didn’t get much, just that Laura and Greg are being driven to the hospital in an ambulance.”

“Really great! Why would anyone call _you_? I am in Greg’s emergency contact! You apparently can’t even listen properly!”

“Oh my god. Could you two please shut up!? I’m trying to drive here! Both shush! They are gonna be okay.”

 

Carmilla hoped that too. How could everything be such a mess, when finally the coast was clearing? There were no obstacles -or at least she didn’t think there was. Was there? What if Laura never came as far as telling her father and maybe-

The dark haired girl shook her head and tried to think of something else.

It didn’t matter what Laura did or didn’t do. The main point was that she was okay. She had to be okay. And her father too. Carmilla knew, how much that girl loved her father.

They simply had to be well.

 

 

“You two go in, I’m gonna find a parking spot.”, Will cocked his head, towards the entrance, when he stopped his car in front of the building.

Veronica was quick in rushing out, leaving her daughter back.

“Don’t wanna check on your girl?”, the boy asked his sister, who was stuck in the backseat.

“What if she’s not okay?”

“She’ll be okay. And now get out of my car and make sure of that, before I get towed away for blocking the emergency entrance.”

“Okay, okay. Thanks asshat.”

Will rolled his eyes, but smiled at his twin sister once again, when she looked back after getting out of his car.

 

 

 

***  
  


Greg and Laura were sitting in an ambulance, waiting to get to their destination: the hospital.

“This is ludicrous. We could have driven home. My arm’s super fine.”, Laura demanded.

The blonde couldn’t believe her luck. There she was sitting in an ambulance, although she was perfectly fine (well, okay her left arm was kind of hurting and the paramedic talked about a minor concussion or something, but she really was okay).

“We are **not** taking any risks.”, the parent replied, “Besides. My car has to be reviewed by the insurance company. I would have to wait there for another hour until someone arrives. This way the police are handling it.”

The girl groaned, “Shouldn’t we at least call at home and let them know?”

Greg’s eyes went wide, “I left my phone in the car…”

“Brilliant… And I left mine in my purse that you didn’t let me carry with me.”

“Laura, your wellbeing comes first.”, the father scolded his daughter.

“Alright fine… Do you guys have a cell on you?”, the girl asked one of the paramedics that were with her in the back of the ambulance car.

 

The young man got out his phone and waited for the girl to tell him the digits to a number.

 

“You know Veronica’s number by heart? Not even I do…”, Greg looked at his daughter in awe after she had finished saying out random numbers.

“No… It’s Carm’s.”, the blonde threw her father a meaningful look, before reaching for the phone.

“It’s okay, Miss, rest your arm. I will let your…”, the paramedic was waiting for the blonde to tell him who he was going to talk to.

Laura exhaled, looking at her father, who was still having a hard time comprehending everything, “My stepsister. Carmilla’s my stepsister.”

The guy nodded, “I’ll let your stepsister know.”

Laura couldn’t believe that that day really had to come like this.

Was she in some kind of tragic comedy? She couldn’t tell.

 

 

 

***  
  


“Excuse me, we’re looking for Greg and Laura Hollis… They were in a car accident-”

“Veronica!”, a man exclaimed behind the two Karnstein women and both turned around.

“Oh my god! You are okay!”, the mother exclaimed and inspected her husband thoroughly. He didn’t even seem to have a scratch on his body.

Laura on the other hand was wheeled in, which caught Carmilla’s attention.

“Are you okay?! What happened?”, the dark haired girl stopped immediately in front of Laura.

The blonde groaned, “Great… This is perfect…”, she mumbled under her breath, then looked at her father and Veronica for several seconds, before averting her gaze to the girl that was crouching down to meet her eyes, “Nothing happened. Everyone overreacted, you guys. I have a little concussion and my arm’s a bit sprained or something. It’s nothing. I don’t even know, why I’m being wheeled around like I’m 90 years old, seriously I can-”, the blonde was trying to stand up- in vain.

“Absolutely not!”  
“Sit down, young lady!”

Both Carmilla and Greg looked at each other at the same time after uttering those words. The man squinted his eyes at his stepdaughter.

_Oh fuck, he knows._

 

 

“Laura Hollis?”, a blonde woman -probably in her thirties- came to join the patchwork family.

“Yes. That’s me!”, Laura let out rather eagerly.

“Good, I’m Dr. Anderson. I’m going to take a look at your arm, yeah? Your family can wait here meanwhile.”

“Please let’s get this over with quickly… I can at least walk on my own now, right?”

The doctor smiled and nodded, “That’s just usual procedure. We’re in America. Everyone sues for everything nowadays. Just a safety measure!”

“Good.”, the blonde was already rising up. Carmilla was trying to support her immediately, Laura threw her a look though that said something like ‘Let go now, or I’ll cut you.’.

_Jeez. Always so vehemently trying to do everything on her own…_

 

 

 

Will had already joined his mother on the seats in the waiting room. Greg was anxiously pacing around, and his wife’s reassurances didn’t help him. He thought he was at fault for this _very tragic_ accident.

Carmilla on the other hand sat as far as possible away from those three, just waiting on the doctor to finally come back again, which she eventually did after half an hour.

The brunette was quick on her feet, “How is she??”

The doctor just smiled at her (probably knowing that kind of concern all too well) and assured her that Laura was doing fine and that she could go into the examination room.

 

“Mr. Hollis?”, Dr. Anderson held up Veronica and Greg though, “We need you to sign some forms for insurance coverage.”

“Yeah, yeah sure.”, Laura’s stepmother said, and waited with her husband.

Carmilla looked back and saw how her mother cocked her head towards the open room. It was silent consent (which the dark haired girl didn’t need, because she would have gone to see the girl she loved anyway, but still it felt nice).

 

 

“Hey…”, Carmilla didn’t know what else to say, while entering the room.

Laura was just about to put on her jacket (the splint around her left forearm was complicating the process). The brunette approached her and helped her get into one sleeve and hung the other part of the jacket around Laura’s left shoulder.

Laura’s gaze wandered to the open door and Carmilla’s eyes followed hers. Greg and Veronica were still talking with the doctor.

“How are you?”, the brunette asked, while securing some stray locks of blonde hair behind Laura’s ears.

The blonde shrugged, “I’m okay. It was nothing.”

“What happened?”, the dark haired girl asked, while lightly tracing Laura’s jaw with her index. The blonde’s attention snapped up to her face.

“A car ran into us from behind and I wasn’t buckled in and the impact made me hurt my left arm a little.”

“Why the hell weren’t you buckled in??”

“Really? You’re gonna be mad at me for that now? I wasn’t even fully in the car before all of that went down. Just a dumb moment.”

“No, sorry... You’re okay though, right?”

“Yes, Carm. Don’t worry so much.”

“I love you, of course I worry about you.”

 

There were two clearing throats to be heard in the room and out of instinct Carmilla jerked away a little, but maintained a proximity between her and Laura.

 

“Are you okay, darling?”, Veronica asked in a motherly voice and the blonde’s eyebrows went up in skepticism.

“I’m fine. Thanks.”

Greg observed his stepdaughter closely. The way she looked at his daughter or how overprotective she had gotten didn’t go by unnoticed by him.

 

“Guys, are you ready?”, it was Will now, who joined in on the weird/intense staring contest between everyone.

“Yes. Uhm, William, can you take the girls home? Your mother and I are going to take a cab to the restaurant and pick up my car. The police said they have the insurance things for the car ready.”

“Yeah sure.”, the boy nodded and gave his sister a silent shrug.

 

 

 

***  
  


Veronica rested her head on Greg’s shoulder, while the cab brought them to their destination.

“So you know about my daughter being…”, the man trailed off.

“Being together with mine? Yeah.”

Both shared a moment of silence.

“Is that odd to you too?”, Greg asked, clearly he still was in shock from everything that had happened that day.

“You have no idea… But we can’t really keep them apart, can we?”

“I think Carmilla’s good for Laura.”

Veronica leaned back into her seat and looked at her husband with furrowed brows, “Really? Did you just say that?”

“What?”

“Well usually you are so overprotective of your kid. It’s just new that you are okay with the fact that she has been with Carmilla all this time. They have been living together for the past half year…”

“I’m aware of that and I certainly need some time getting used to it, but they are good kids, right?”

“They sure are.”

 

 

***  
  


“Carm, you can let go of me now.”, Laura rolled her eyes once they were in the hallway upstairs to both of their rooms.

“Yeah. Sorry!”, the dark haired girl let go of the other girl immediately and stood there like a fool.

Laura -yawning, because it was a tiring day- reached forwards with her good hand and took ahold of the other girl’s and led them both into her bedroom.

“Sweetheart, I would love to spend some time with you right now, but don’t you think your dad would kill me, if he’d find me in your room?”

“Why? It’s not like we’re _banging_ in here.”, the blonde copied Carmilla’s words of the day before.

Weird. It was only one day ago. What could happen in a few hours was remarkable...

Carmilla chuckled and shook her head slightly, when she came to a halt in front of the girl she loved (who was already seating herself on the edge of her bed).

“Can you get me my pj’s please?”, the blonde asked sweetly. Carmilla would have even done it, if she hadn’t asked. She looked so cute and adorable.

“Of course.”, the brunette let go of the other girl’s hand and went on the search for said outfit.

 

 

After Carmilla had helped the other girl into her clothes, she was dragged into bed with her. This time thought he brunette didn’t find it in her heart to protest. Laura looked so cute with the splint, and how she always tried to do everything on her own and at the end let Carmilla help her get into her clothes anyway. (Usually it was the exact opposite action that Carmilla preferred to do, but... Whatever.)

 

 

“I told my dad about us.”, the blonde said, while playing with Carmilla’s hand that was resting on her stomach.

The brunette, who was spooning Laura from behind, smiled against her neck, “Mhm I know.”

“I’m an idiot.”

“Why?”

“Because I made it so hard for myself and now that everyone knows… It’s kinda…”

“Liberating?”, Carmilla offered.

“Yeah. I feel so free now. Like… We don’t have to hide anymore, Carm. And my dad’s been pretty cool about it. Well, obviously not quite the _you_ being the girl I’m dating part, but about the liking girls part.”

“You told him we were dating?”, the dark haired girl drawled and Laura turned around, facing her (careful not to lie on the hurt arm fully).

“Are we? I mean… Do you still want me?”, there was a hopeful look in the blonde’s eyes that just was to melt away for.

“You’re so annoying when you don’t know how much I want you. What do I have to do for you to finally get it?”

“I don’t know.”, Laura grinned goofily.

Carmilla joined her in, before putting on a serious face again, “Just don’t ever do something like last night again, okay?”

The blonde sighed, “I can’t promise you to not hurt you, because I’m flawed.”

“I’m not expecting that, but I’d like for you to talk to me when something’s up and not just tell me in that we need to break up. Without explanations or anything.”

“That can be arranged.”, Laura nodded and closed her eyes, “You know what?”

“What?”, Carmilla scooted closer, making the gap between them nonexistent.

“If you had a twin, I would still choose you.”, Laura giggled, feeling proud of her good play with words.

“But I do have a twin and that makes absolutely no sense. How’d you come up with that nonsense?”, the brunette argued.

“Oh my god that was the lyrics to the new Rihanna song with Drake?”

“What?”

The blonde sighed, “Nothing.”

 

“Carmilla, you should get to your own bedroom.”, a male voice cut through the air and both jumped away from each other and sat up in the bed.

“Right, uh, **Sir**.”

Laura’s head snapped to her left, her eyes wide with surprise and was it amusement?

Carmilla couldn’t tell, because she was trying to look Mr. Hollis in the eyes. _Trying_ being the key word in that case.

“Goodnight, Laura.”, the brunette murmured and wanted to vanish through the bathroom door, when Greg held her up once again.

“Wait, kid.”, Carmilla turned to face him, her lips forming a thin line and her fists clenched by her side, “We need to talk about you two… Uhm, dating.”

“Oh.”, the dark haired girl shot Laura a quick glance, before regarding Greg with eye-contact.

 

“So, your mother and I have come up with some rules.”

Laura got out of her bed slowly, “Rules?”

The father looked at his daughter directly for the first time, “Well since those living arrangements are not gonna keep you both apart, and we are not going to do everything there is in our power to forbid you seeing each other, we need to establish some basic rules that both of you need to follow.”

“But you’re cool with us dating?”, the blonde asked her father incredulously.

“Well I wouldn’t call it _cool with it_ …”, Greg looked at Carmilla closely, “But Veronica and I are doing our best not to freak out and we’re hoping it will be worth it.”

“Totally!”, Laura assured and looked to her right, where Carmilla gave her a half smile.

 

“So, rule number one: there is going to be an open door policy, when both of you are home from now on.”

Carmilla and Laura shared a look, before the blonde replied hesitantly, “Okay… Next?”

“I don’t want to find any of you in the room of the other after 9 pm and before 8 am, got it?”

The brunette nodded slowly, “Uhm okay?”

“Okay? Carm, that’s like-”, but Laura got interjected.

“I got it.”, Carmilla said to her stepfather.

Greg was pleased to see that at least his stepdaughter took him seriously, “Good. Live by those rules and you’re gonna be fine. We won’t be in your hair.”

“Okay, promise!”, Carmilla eagerly responded and Greg acknowledged it with a nod.

 

“Now say good night. It’s getting late.”

“Tomorrow’s Sunday, dad.”, Laura rolled her eyes, “And are you seriously gonna stand there, while we do that?” She couldn’t believe what she had gotten herself into by telling her dad, but the knowledge that their relationship was _‘legit’_ now, was beyond satisfying.

“Right…”, Greg moved to the door, and turned around once again, “I’m gonna check on you two in 10 minutes!”

 

Carmilla turned to face Laura once the door was closed, cradled her face, and leaned in to kiss her. She was just so, so happy and she couldn’t contain it anymore.

“Wow.”, Laura swooned, once the lip-lock was over, “We’re a normal couple now.”

“Your dad -or in this case even my mom- is far from normal, but yeah I get what you mean, Creampuff.”

The blonde bunched up her face, “Yeah since when do you play the obedient puppy?”, Laura placed her good arm around the other girl’s neck and leaned in to hug her.

Carmilla shrugged, “I can play along sometimes. Your dad seemed like he needed me to be all compliant and stuff. He knows for a fact that I am the one sleeping with his daughter, so…”

“God, you’re right…”, the shorter girl groaned. She hadn’t thought about _that_.

“He will eventually get used to it. They all will.”, Carmilla assured her girlfriend.

“I really don’t care. As long as I have you.”

 


	28. Epilogue: What A Pair

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Make out already!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fuck, I forgot to post this, because I was preoccupied with going after Squirtle!  
> But, I'll get the 'prologue' to the sequel ready and probably post it soon!

“What’s for breakfast?”, Carmilla joined her family on the breakfast table and seated herself beside her twin brother who looked at her skeptically.  
  
“Good morning to you too, Carmilla. Help yourself, you’re not a child anymore.”, Veronica pointed over to the kitchen.  
  
“Where’s Laura?”, Will wanted to know.  
  
Greg was curious for that question too.  
  
“She had to drop by some newspaper for an interview on the winter carnival. It was very last minute.”, the brunette answered.  
  
It clearly was still a little unusual for the parents that she was more up to date with Laura’s life than anyone else.  
  
“Really? She didn’t tell me that she’ll miss school… It’s the first day after the semester break.”, Veronica uttered, while pouring cream into her coffee.  
  
“She isn’t gonna miss school, that’s the point of her going there earlier, mom.”  
  
Her mother acknowledged her sentence with a silent _‘Ah!’_ and a nod.  
  
  
  
“So Carmilla, are you excited for the last term of your junior year?”  
  
“As excited as one can be for school.”, the brunette mumbled.  
  
“How ‘bout you, William?”  
  
“Yeah, finally we can do stuff out in the field. Football practice has been lacking ever since this hellish winter has started.”  
  
“Great, I was hoping to catch some of Laura’s soccer games. I’d love to see you play too.”, Greg said it like it was nothing, but Will’s eyes gave away, how much that meant to him.  
  
“Yeah… That’d be really cool.”

 

 

***

  
  
Carmilla had anticipated it. She wasn’t naive.  
  
As soon as her car was parked, and she got out of it, a lot of eyes were set on her. She never liked the attention, and it wouldn’t change, not even if it didn’t exactly mean anything particularly negative. People were generally curious, especially when their high school princess was dating her, _Miss Doom and Gloom_.  
  
“Karnstein! Wait!”  
  
The dark haired girl turned around and looked up to the giantess (with her puppy dog in tow, by the way) that she learned to tolerate. It was the best friend of her girlfriend after all. (Carmilla was trying hard with that one.)  
  
“What?”  
  
“I have to talk to you about something.”  
  
“Uhh... Sure?”, the brunette wasn’t really comfortable. What if that was an ambush? Danny Lawrence wanting to talk to her in a civil way? (Even though it did happen in the past… Maybe once or twice.)  
  
“So now that you’re _officially_ dating Laura, I’m sure you will go to the spring kickoff party with her? As her date?”, Kirsch grinned at the redhead knowingly. They looked like they had made up.  
  
Was it the spring fever?  
  
Carmilla frowned at the redhead, “Seriously? How many parties do you guys have?”  
  
“Are you coming now or what?”  
  
“Yeah I guess I’ll be there, if Laura is?”, the brunette rolled her eyes.  
  
“Good. Because you know, I thought with you as my best friend’s _girlfriend_ I should invite you. _Personally_ and like _officially_.”  
  
“I’m still awaiting for someone to pop up and yell _‘That’s a prank!’_.”, the dark haired girl deadpanned. She just couldn’t believe it.  
  
Danny groaned audibly, “Don’t make it so hard on me. It’s a new, fresh start. We have one and a half year together, before I never have to see your face again -sort of- and I wanna start the new term off with a gesture of friendliness.”  
  
“Well, I’m sure as hell not gonna stand in your way.”  
  
The redhead held out her hand, “Good. We’ll try to be friends. Kind of. For Laura.”  
  
“For Laura.”, Carmilla nodded and shook the offered hand.  
  
“Awesome, sexy ladies- Just ladies! Just ladies!”, the guy corrected himself, after both Carmilla and Danny gave him a dirty look.  


 

***

  
  
Carmilla was lounging in the quad with LaFontaine and Perry. Aviators were resting on the bridge of her nose. Spring was really finally coming.  
  
Slowly, but it was coming.  
  
The sun’s rays were illuminating the whole sky in a magnificent blue, highlighting some clouds here and there, and then, when she least expected it, she saw the moon. In the blue sky there was something that looked like the watery star was sharing the daylight heavens with the sun.  
  
They could coexist on the same sky.  
  
_What a pair._

  
“Guys only four more months until we are seniors!”, LaF exclaimed, Perry looking at them, amused by their enthusiasm.

“ **If** you can make it that far. Don’t forget the fire incident...”, Carmilla reminded them. The ginger nerd squinted their eyes at them annoyingly.  
  
  
Suddenly the brunette felt someone behind her, and before she could react, her sunglasses were gone and her eyes were covered with a tiny hand.  
  
  
“Guess who…”, Laura whispered and kissed her cheek.  
  
“Silas High’s _grossest_ couple.”, LaF offered, and got slapped on the thigh for that one.

“They are adorable, LaFontaine. Let them be.”, Perry scolded them.  
  
“No, Perr. _You_ are adorable.”, the science nerd countered. (Gross times two was happening on that table.)  
  
  
There was a smile splaying on Carmilla’s face (she didn’t even realize anymore that there were other people around her), “How was the interview at the newspaper?”, the brunette asked, once the blonde handed her back her sunglasses.  
  
Laura seated herself beside her girlfriend and propped her arm up on the table in front of her, to lean her head into her hand.  
  
“It was fine. They mostly were interested in the fact that I was the principal’s stepdaughter and whether or not I benefit from that in regards to my grades and stuff. Here I thought it was gonna be a piece on my hard work for this school, bummer!”  
  
“Ow, that’s awful.”  
  
Laura shrugged, “Nah, it was fine. My answers were on point, I was prepared for a shitstorm or something and well, I was right in doing so. This town is small.”  
  
“What do you mean?”  
  
“Well, they also did ask me about my relationship with the principal’s daughter or as they also called it _my affair with my stepsister_ or the _liason with the twin sister of the guy I was dating_.”  
  
“They think you were dating Will?”, Carmilla asked incredulously.  
  
“Of course they think that…”, Laura continued in a low voice, probably trying to mimic the interviewer, “But Laura, you have gone to the school dance at the end of November with him. You must have been together at that point?”  
  
“What is that rag? Terrorizing a seventeen-year-old with questions like that?”  
  
Laura chuckled, “Carm, it’s whatever. The accusations were probably against your mother anyway. The woman that interviewed me mentioned something about going to school with Veronica Karnstein. She probably scooped for some dirt on your mom to get a good story on the popular principal of Silas High or something. I hate those small towns and this kind of bad journalism.”, the blonde reached forwards and traced the brunette’s jaw with her thumb, “Just forget about it.”  
   
  
There was a moment in which they both lost themselves in each other’s eyes.  
  
  
  
“Make out already!”, some gross douche bag yelled in their direction.  
  
  
  
Carmilla turned around and tossed her empty cup at that person.  
  
“Ugh, unbelievable!”, the brunette looked at the other girl, who was trying to hide a huge smile.  
  
“I mean, we should probably give them what they want.”, Laura wiggled with her eyebrows.  
  
The dark haired girl arched an eyebrow, “Well... You know what I like about everyone in school knowing about us?” She said that, while coming dangerously closer.  
  
“What…?”, Laura’s eyes had dropped to her lips the moment she had started speaking.  
  
“Aside from the fact that I can kiss you now wherever I want... Those gross football players now know that you’re taken too. You are mine, Laura Hollis.”  
  
Laura giggled -oh what a delightful sound- “Were you worried about them, Carm?”  
  
“Oh shut up and kiss me.”, the brunette whispered.  
  
  
And Laura did comply gladly, while Carmilla flipped those whistling teenager scumbags off.  
  
  
The entirety of Silas High probably cheered them on, but for them both nothing else existed in that moment except their significant other.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you guys so much for reading this, for all the kudos and for all the comments!  
> If you enjoyed, and you read 'til now, you know that there is a sequel and the prologue to it is out soon!  
> [Astra Inclinant…](http://archiveofourown.org/works/7550716/chapters/17171998)

**Author's Note:**

> English is not my first, nor second language, so sorry for any mistakes whatsoever.  
> I answer questions and give excellent life advice over here: [angstfreehuman](http://angstfreehuman.tumblr.com/)


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